The Noxian Librarian
by Shadow Nadri
Summary: The place to learn is also one of the place where champions like to relax after matches on the Fields of Justice. Meet Mikki Halsnight, head librarian to the Grand Noxus Library and the story she has to tell of those who visit her establishment. Rated M for sexual content in later chapters.
1. Prelude: Journal

The Noxian Librarian

Prelude: Journal

The sound of a quill pen scratching across paper moves throughout the halls of the expansive library. A single light flickering on a small writing desk in the corner of the study hall illuminating the surface of the desk and the solo occupant that's slightly hunch over, scribbling away on the paper as she writes. Long flowing dark brown hair pulled back into a loose pony tail to keep it from straying too far into her small face as deep brown eyes continue to stare at the near blank page as she stops to think about what to write. She dipped the quill into the ink bottle and rolled up her sagging long Noxian bordered green sleeves to the elbows before picking it back up again and started writing.

"_One might say leading the life of a humble librarian would be an easy one in Valoran, that is assuming I'm located in Demancia or Plitover. But alas, no, I reside on the outskirts of Noxus, two mile out to the Southwest corner of the great city-state. Criminal activity is on the medium side, though nothing ever is close to my library, thanks to the everlasting pacifist spell that's cast at a radius of a 'good' mile out around the building. Get it? Cause nothing harmful can happen inside the spell? Oh fine, I'll skip the humor."_

The girl read back the paragraph to herself as she set the quill back into the bottle. She wanted to scratch out the last few lines and rewrite them, then she remembered that's it's a personal journal not one that'll be read in the next six moon cycles. She inhaled and picked up her quill again and continued her scribbling.

"_While the library is a good distance from Noxus, it allows scholars and travelers from other cities that wish to seek any books, journals, news paper clipping, or maps without having to go through Noxian guards. I get the occasional honored champions of the League that like to visit as well. Some, like Nasus, likes to sit around and read like he was back on his home world, though, being reminded of how little my collection is isn't the best thing to say to the head librarian, or even some of the Yordles from the Academy of Science and Progess like to take field trips and pop in to look up some of the Revered Inventor's old research notes and various books on engineering. Busy most days, but I enjoy the company that I never have to seek out myself."_

Again, looking over the newest addition to the journal entry, she smiled lightly as she place the quill on its side as she stretched out in her seat. A moment of clarity hit her as she realized something she missed. Quickly, she gave the quill a quick dip into the ink and started again.

"_Oh, I never really got to introducing myself. I'm Mikki Halsnight, Sixth Generation Head Librarian to the Grand Noxus Library. My mother before me left this place in my capable hands when I was barely hitting my twenties. It's been about four years or so since I took over and everything runs smoothly as it always has. My father, never met him and mother refused to talk about it each time I asked, so I have nothing. My life has and will always be about this building of knowledge so I've long since slept in the small apartment above the library when I'm not busy keeping the shelves in order and dust free. While I'm a Noxian, most don't believe I am due to my kind, caring nature that seems to come with ease, for me anyways."_

With a slight nod of her head, she refilled the quill end with ink and kept going with her thoughts.

"_As mentioned earlier, I do get to chat with champions and I write down the stories they tell me when they get the chance to visit. Some visit more than others for various reasons, whether it's for small chit chat, use of the books, or simply just needed a place to get away from it all after a hard day on the Field of Justice. Snacks are provided on a daily basis cause I know people get hungry after a day of studying and also allow me to learn new cooking recipes from time to time when I feel adventurous."_

Though, the last time she felt adventurous was when she got a copy of Morgana's Sinful Succulence: Do-It-Yourself Cookbook and tried baking one of the Isomalt's Peccable Pecan Pie. Didn't turn out quit as good as she thought it would and had to quickly go to Morgana's bakery and picked up a half dozen to pass out to the library patrons that were waiting for her to finish 'baking' them. The thought drifted as she slowly mulled around another thought that has been plaguing her mind for the past several days and started to write it down.

"_Though, lately, thing have started to change around here and the vibe of it won't leave. What's causing this unrest in the back of my mind? I have yet to find out but I'll keep looking till I find the answer. I'd ask Zilean, but he always tells me the answer will come in due time or Nasus perhaps. No, he'd tell me it's just part of my imagination. Maybe, just maybe, Jericho would know. He usually has a good answers to my questions, despite the fact he doesn't answer the more important questions half the time before."_

She blinked at what she just wrote for the last two lines. Shaking her head and taking a deep breath which turned into a yawn. Small tired tears formed at the outer edges of her eyes as she looked up at the small clock that pointed to a late hour of two in the morning. Wiping away the salty water from her eyes, she picked up the quill one last time to top off her journal entry.

"_Ah, I'm rambling again and it's late. So here's to another night and my first journal entry to document the life of the head librarian, sixth generation." - Mikki Halsnight_

_Leaving the page open to dry the ink, she leaned back in her seat and took another big yawn as she leaned the chair onto the back two legs slightly before righting herself and the chair. She looked down at her entry and leaned closer to gently blow on the nearly dry ink. After a while of waiting, she closed the journal and fastened the seal on it and took it back up with her to her small apartment above the library, carrying the small candle light with her. The stairs whined around in a tight spiral until she reached the top floor to the library and from there, she walked down to the end of the hall way and opened a door that lead to the final stair case to her home._

_The room was about the size of one of the private study rooms in the library, only with the accompaniment of a bed, closet and dresser with mirror and an off shoot room for a small bathroom to the left side of the entrance door. She set the candle and journal on the dresser and pulled her hair free of the hair tie that held most of her hair back and gently tossed it also onto the dresser top. Looking into the mirror, her reflection showed her eyes starting to gain dark circle under her eyes as she rubbed at them with her small hands, one at a time. Her gown was a dark green with the Noxus symbol embroidered onto the back and a small crest version on the top left part of the front while the edges were threaded with a gold embroidery to accent the green in an elegant pattern of swirls. She was fond of the gown, despite it being an hand me down from her mother. _

_With a single twist on the ball of her right foot, she faced away from the mirror and walked to her bed, blowing out the candle with a small hint of magic before turning in for the night. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day after all._


	2. Chapter 1: Curse

Chapter One: Cursed

A series of knocks sounded through the library early in the morning. Mikki cracked an eye and looked at the clock on her side desk next to her bed. The clock pointed to five in the morning. The knocking came again, same rhythm and loudness. She wasn't expecting anyone, especially not at this hour, so she tossed aside her sheets wearily and sat up at the edge of her bed, blinking away the sleep that should have stayed for a few more hours at least. Not even three hours rest as she slipped her feet into her black slippers on the ground and slowly made her way down the first stair case to the top floor of the library and winding down the spiral case next, all while hearing the knocking every minute she spent trying to come down.

Reaching the ground floor, she shuffled her feet as she kept her arms wrapped around her chest as she felt the chill of the darkness just before the first morning light. She listened to the last knock she'll hear as she peered though the small peep hold in the front door to see who was requesting her presence at this hour. As unusual as the person that insist on coming all this way, she sighed heavily before unlocking the door and cracking it open to greet the man that stood on her door step.

"You took your time." The man growled as he stood proudly in front of her holding his cane square center in front of him, his raven peering down at her with it's beady green eyes. Jericho Swain, the master tactician and leader of Noxus, was waiting and the longer she held her silence, the longer she made him wait. She raised her head up at him, though her small size to him was obviously noticeable, as she gave him a deep huff of disproval. "You couldn't wait till the library was open, as usual." She remarked as she stepped aside and let him walk in, his raven cawed at her response to her master.

It wasn't his first time he requested early clearance to her library at ungodly hours of the day. Swain has been taking his early morning visits once a week for a little over a month. Each day he came was different than the last so there was no pattern for Mikki to decipher, but perhaps to Swain, there was such a pattern or he just enjoys toying with her sleep schedule. She followed him up to his usual private study room after watching him pick up a few old journals from the history shelves and settle himself into the lounge chair near the window. Beatrice flew off her master's shoulder, circled the room a couple times and landed on the lamp post near where Swain sat.

"Would you like me to get you anything while I'm still standing?" She asked him as she leaned tiredly into the doorway, watching him cautiously with blurry eyes. He peered up at her for a moment, before cracking open the top journal from his pile of reading material. "No, but you look like you could use a pick me up." He answered snidely as his rave cawed in laughter next to him. She raised an eye brow at him as she continued to watch him look over the journal. "I wonder why I would need one." She muttered to herself, but just loud enough to let him hear a couple of the words before she shuffled into the private room and took a seat on a padded bench on the opposite side of the room from Swain and Beatrice.

This bench had a blanket and pillow neatly stacked on it's end, something for any tired visitor or weary head librarian that didn't get her beauty rest. Placing the pillow at the edge of the bench and pulling the blanket out from it's folds, Mikki settled herself on her right side to rest her head and keep watch over the only visitor. "You're going to fall asleep again if you keep laying down like that." Swain pointed out as he kept his red eyes on the current page of the journal. Mikki readjusted herself under the blanket, curling her legs up and pinning the blanket under them and putting her hands under her head and pillow and blinked at him angrily. Nothing she could say would affect him and would only be thrown back harder. "At least I will get some sleep before dawn breaks." She muttered again as she closed her eyes and huddled tighter against herself.

Swain kept reading in silence as he let the librarian sleep in peace. Why, for he was not sure, she insists on sleeping in the same room he chose to spend his time reading all the old journals of former librarians that came before the one in front of him. The journal he was currently reading was her mother's grandfather's and the stories that her grandfather told were mostly about the dullness between the clashes of the Rune Wars and where these event took place. Halfway though the journal as the dawn broke through the window next to him, he noticed a change in the old librarian's writing, it was softer and spoke of a familiar person that he had known. Mikki's grandfather spoke of his daughter very much through out the last half of the entries he found, but near the end is what intrigued him the most.

The mention of the Librarian's Curse once again rose as the older man worried about what's to become of his only daughter as the curse will surely be passed onto Mikki's mother. Each journal of each of the librarians spoke of this curse always near the end of their time. A trend he was determined to find out why it's called a 'curse' and what the curse entailed, but none of the former journal entries ever explain how the curse works or what makes it one.

He soon reached the end of the journal and looked up at the time as he could clearly see the light streaming through the window onto the wall on the other side of the room. It was near seven and the light flowing in was making the sleepy librarian move under the blanket restlessly. Swain thought it was cute, but chose not to express it as he got up and strolled next to the librarian, blocking the morning light from her face as he watched her wake up slowly. "You've got a library to run and my time here is done." He told her as she cracked an eye up at him and yawned. She muttered something that he couldn't quite understand, nor cared to understand as he picked up his cane and strolled out of the private study with Beatrice flying along side him.

As Swain left the library, Mikki slowly woke up to fix the blanket and pillow on the bench before any guests see that it was used and lightly padded her way back to her room to take care of all personal things and getting ready for the day ahead. It was going be one of those days.


	3. Chapter 2: Business as Usual

Chapter 2: Business as Usual

As she though, it was going to be one of those days. People sat outside of the front door to the library waiting to get in at eight in the morning. Noxian students, some government officials, summoners and, with some further looking, one champion that has the decency to wait till opening time. Looking at the clock on her apartment wall, she moved away from the window that faced the crowd out front as she stepped out and headed down to the front door, her Noxian formal robes flowing lightly above the ground. She opened the door as people swarmed in, clothes mixing with the colors of purple, green and gold pass her by and filtered their way between the shelves or up the stairs to the private rooms. With a shuddering yawn she looked about for the champion she saw from her room and found her looking around the magical spells section of the library.

Lux stood in front of the defense magic books as she looked over each title with little scrutiny as Mikki approached lightly from her right. "It's good to see you again, Lux" She greeted the champion with all the respect a champion deserves as she bowed to her. The female champion smiled happily at the librarian, "It's good to see you again as well." She replied as she looked Mikki over quickly before frowning slightly as she caught sight of the bags under her eyes. "Didn't get much sleep last night?"

With a quick blink and rub of her eyes, Mikki vigorously shook her head side to side, but before her mind wanted to deny Lux the obvious answer she said yes, tilting her head off to the side with a heavy sigh that belied that wasn't what she wanted to say. Lux chuckled lightly and asked what kept the poor librarian up so late into the night. A story she has relayed before, she explained to the Demancian champion the early morning visitation she gets from time to time from Swain. Lux gasped then huffed, "So HE thinks he's special now that he leads Noxus and gets to disturb you whenever for use of your library?"

Mikki gave a tilted nod and thought about a suitable reply as she looked up at Lux, who was still upset at the thought another champion who doesn't want to follow the rules like everyone else. "It's only been a little over a month since he's started his early morning visits and he does it only once a week, so it's really not much of a problem." She said lightly in hopes of soothing the seething fury of the Demancian in front of her. Lux put her hands on her hip and stared at the librarian before heaving a deep sigh of her own. "Only if you're okay with it, I suppose." She said as she perked up and grabbed Mikki's hand and started dragging her to the far end of the library towards the small kitchen that's tucked away in the west wing of the library. "But right now, you need something to get rid of the sleep that's still in your eyes!" she said as they entered the kitchen area.

The area was full of summoners and students making hot beverages and pulling out small snacks from the cabinets to take with them up to the study rooms upstairs. Each person that uses the kitchen has to donate some amount of money to keep using the kitchen during the day and to keep all desired food and drinks stocked up at all times. As Lux strolled though the slowly parting crowd as Mikki noticed how some of the summoners looked at Lux with glee or hateful stares as she reached the pots of freshly made coffee and hot chocolate on the counter. With a swift motion, a couple gold pieces was dropped into the nearby donation jar, pulled down a couple empty mugs, started pouring hot chocolate into both then spinning back around and handing one to Mikki who stood in shock as she watched the whole event happen so fast. "Drink up now, you can't be sleeping on the job!"

Mikki blinked and rubbed at her eyes again before taking hold of the offered mug of hot chocolate. Sipping lightly she looked of to each side of her as she saw curious onlookers watch Lux treat her like a good friend before they noticed she was watching them as they quickly turned away and continued on with their current activities. While Lux did hold more of the attention as they stood there sipping away on their drinks, she still was the head librarian and it showed from time to time that would put most newcomers or weak willed guests on edge around her if she wasn't feeling right, like now for example. With renewed energy, Mikki reached to the ceiling with her hands as she stretched out and gave one last yawn for the morning. While the hot chocolate isn't as energizing as coffee, it doesn't have the hard energy withdraw that comes with coffee and will sustain her throughout the day.

She thanked Lux for the warm drink then a question formed in her mind. A detail she shouldn't overlook. "Just out of curiosity, why isn't Garen with you today?" she inquired as she watched the champion stop sipping at her own drink. It was clear that she snuck out on her own to be here today, but Mikki patiently waited for her answer. "He was busy and you know I didn't want to impose…" She started to trail off which only confirmed her theory. Garen always disliked the fact that Lux would come visit the Noxus Grand Library over the one in Demancia and refuses to let her travel alone, whether or not he had to do it himself or have another accompany his little sister to the library. Mikki raised her free hand and smiled lightly, "It's alright, I understand." she told her as she placed her hand back around the warm mug.

Lux stopped trying to explain as she looked at Mikki with narrowed eyes. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Mikki could only nod and smile lightly as she looked around the kitchen as it's slowly losing the heavy crowd from before they walked in. "You know your curiosity will get you back sooner or later." She continued to say as Mikki refocused her sight on her. "I know, but that's just part of who I am and I really can't deny what comes naturally to me." She replied as she finished off her mug and walked over to the sink near by to rinse it out. Lux followed suit and also cleaned out her empty mug and followed the librarian out of the kitchen.

Retracing the steps Lux took to the get the kitchen, Mikki backtracked through the shelves and hallway till she reached the section Lux was standing at before her need to re-energize the librarian hit. Mikki scanned the Defensive Magic bookcase as she waited for Lux to catch up to her. Hearing the footsteps behind her, she turned to face the Demancian as she stepped closer. "So did you find the book I was looking for?" Lux asked as Mikki shook her head in response. "I was hoping you'd tell me. I have no knowledge on what books are also at the Demancian library." She clarified to Lux as she looked back at the shelf, tracing the bindings with a finger till she stopped on a title.

"This one!" Lux pulled the book off the shelf, the title read 'Advanced Defensive Magic Against Void Magic'. "I wish the local library would carry it, but they told me the last copy they had got stolen and they don't want to take the time to get a new one." She said as she cracked open the book and thumbed through the pages like an eager child with a new toy. The news of a stolen book that describes how to defend against void magic seemed a bit odd, but, then again, it's nearly happened before in her library just a few months ago. "Guess your local library doesn't take care of all it's books like I do." Mikki muttered , just loud enough for Lux to hear and not everyone else around them.

Lux nodded and hugged the book tightly, "Shall I get it checked out then?" She asked as they walked to the center of the library where a small line was already formed by students that want to check out as well in front of the central information and checkout counter. The anxious and upset stares from those waiting kinda hit a nerve, but Mikki pressed forward, took her place behind the counter, and started checking each of the books out as Lux stood in line for her turn to come. Several minutes past as Lux finally reached the counter and handed Mikki the book. "How long do I have till I have to return it?" She inquired the librarian as Mikki placed her time stamp on the card and put it back into the sleeve on the inside of the cover.

"Take as long as you need with it, but be sure to keep it hidden when you're not reading it." She warned as she wove a small blue rune circle onto the back cover of the book. "If someone is stealing books on protections against void magic, then this will help me find it again, just in case, and be sure to let me know if it was stolen from you as soon as you notice it's gone." Mikki closed the book and handed it back to Lux, who held it close to her chest as she bowed in thanks and glee. "Than you so much for this, I promise to return it as soon as I can!"

With that, the young Demancian champion waved good bye as she left, holding the book tightly in her grip. "Be safe on your way back home!" Mikki yelled as Lux disappeared out the front door. Sighing, she turned back and faced the line that continued to grow in numbers as more people needed to have the books checked out. Business as usual.


	4. Chapter 3: Maps and Invitation

Chapter 3: Maps and Invitation

The day past by without much notice since Lux left the library, students and summoners soon left to return home and government officials moved their meeting to another location. The sun started to set on the horizon as Mikki started lighting candles and picked up loose books that weren't put back on the shelves after being used. What few people that stuck around were given a fifteen minute warning for when they must leave as the day drew to a close. The growl of her empty stomach reminded her that she had gone all day without a bite to eat and only lasted so long due to the water she had since the afternoon to quench the emptiness. After watching and checking each room to make sure the library has been cleared out of all guests, she padded her way back to the west wing kitchen to make what would now be 'dinner'.

Gathering an empty bowl from the cabinet, she walked to the ice box that stood along side the counter and opened it to reveal it's contents of cold food stored within. She opened a smaller container within and pulled out four eggs, placing them into the bowl and closing the container as she swept her hand over a shelf labeled meats and pulled out a small package of bacon strips. As she closed the ice box, she heard someone knocking away at the front door. She sighed as she set the bowl and bacon package down into the counter and moved swiftly to answer the door yet again. A quick peek through the peep hole showed a young man standing in front of the door with bright blond hair that wasn't very well kept shuffling around as he waited for her to open the door. With a shake of her head and a slight smile on her face, Mikki unlocked the door and opened it to greet him.

"You're visiting awfully late." She told him as he spun around to face her. Ezreal bowed to her lightly as he held out a bound journal out to her. "I know but I figured you'd like to update some of the maps while I was in the area." He said lightly as Mikki gently took up the journal from his gloved hands. She looked it over and flipped through a few highly detailed pages as she nodded. "Thank you very much, Ez. Would you like to come inside while I get your payment for this?" She asked him as a loud growl sounded from her stomach. He laughed as he heard this and agreed to come inside as he followed her to the information and checkout counter and watched her set the journal down.

Walking around the counter to her side, she leaned down to pull out the gold box as she pulled out the usual fare for his service, but as she leaned back up, Ezreal wasn't in front of her anymore. After a quick listen, she heard footsteps behind her as she quickly spun around and saw a glimpse of his boot heading towards the west wing. Covering her face with embarrassment, she sighed and started following after him only to find him already where she thought he would be, the kitchen. She heard banging as she approach the kitchen, hearing several egg cracks and faint sizzling of the bacon as well as she got closer still. Leaning against the door frame as she stared at Ezreal's back as he kept mixing the eggs in the bowl that she pulled out earlier. "Enjoying yourself?" She asked him calmly, trying hard not to sound a bit upset over being pampered a second time by a champion.

He looked over his shoulder as he poured the scrambled eggs into another pan next to the pan that's cooking the bacon. "I am, of course, but you sounded hungry and I thought I would do this while you put the new map in it's new home." He explained as he started stirring around the eggs, watching them slowly solidify. "Besides, I'm a little hungry myself and helped myself to a couple more eggs and I used the whole package of bacon strips, if that's okay?" He meant it as a question, but why ask when he already used it all? Mikki waved her hand at him, even though he wasn't paying attention, "No, no, that's fine. I'll just take it out of your payment for the food you're making for yourself." He faced her again over his shoulder, making a mock puppy face at her before chuckling himself as he heard her reaction to it.

Mikki told him she'd decided to take the time to register and place the new map journal into it's new spot on the shelf as Ezreal made dinner for the two of them. Leaving the bright kitchen behind, she strolled swiftly back to the counter where she set the journal down. Just before making the last turn to face the checkout count, she heard the soft rustling of pages turning just around the corner. Slowing peeking around the corner, she spied a woman from behind who's long red hair flowed freely down her back. "You're not a very sneaky librarian, Mikki." The woman commented as another page was turned.

Mikki stepped around the corner and approach her as the woman gave a half turn to face Mikki. "Did you have some business to take care of here, Katarina?" She asked as she saw that Kat was looking through the map journal Ezreal gave her. The sinister blade smirked as she closed the journal and tossed it at Mikki and watch as Mikki fumbled with the catch. "I put what I came to deliver in that journal." She explained as Mikki looked over the book, checking for any missing or torn pages and watched as a single piece of paper fluttered out of the pages and landed gently on the floor. Picking it up, the first thing that struck out at her was the Noxus symbol stamped at the top center of the page. Scanning further, she looked towards the bottom where she'd most likely see the signature of the one who wrote the message and had the ability to get Katarina to deliver it.

"I'm sure Swain will be please to have you visit him tonight." She said snidely as she leaned on the counter, watching the young librarian read the letter. Mikki crumpled the paper and tossed it into a near by waste basket. "He expects me to come tonight after he had the gall to wake me up much earlier this morning?" She snapped her eyes onto Katarina's as she watched the sinister blade's reaction. Nothing. "I want you to tell him I'm not coming tonight after what he did earlier and that if he wants me to visit him, he'll come himself during respectable hours of the day to ask."

With a quick shunpo, Kat was behind the defying librarian, baring her blades to Mikki's exposed throat. "You're really lucky this place prevents me from harming you." She muttered at her as she pulled her blades back and stepped to the side before turning around only to face Ezreal, who just came out to get Mikki for dinner. "What are you doing here, Kat?" He said as he raised his hand, prepared to face her in combat. She laughed at the prodigal explorer as she tilted her head at him. "You realize neither of us can fight here, silly boy." He lowered his arm as he glared at the Noxian assassin. "I know that, but what were you trying to do to her?"

Mikki, who was rubbing lightly at her throat, turned as the two of them were talking, taking in the situation they were in and moved swiftly between them before Katarina would answer Ezreal's question, if she ever would. "That's enough." She pointed at Kat first. "You, give Swain my message and if he doesn't like it, I challenge him to come here himself and ask me again." A few moments past before Kat gave an exaggerated sigh and shunpo-ed away from the library. With a sigh of her own, she turned to face Ezreal, who looked at her with a face that screamed 'what's going on' to her. With a resigned look she looked up at him weakly as a growl was heard again from her stomach. "I'll explain while we eat." She told him as they both walked back to the west wing kitchen where two plates of bacon and eggs were sitting neatly on a table in the middle of the large kitchen area.

The eggs and bacon were a bit cold due to the time it took to send Katarina away before they could eat, but it was something they were willing to take since she had a lot on her mind and Ezreal had a lot of questions about what transpired. She already told him about Swain's early morning visits before, but what happened tonight seems to be a new addition to Swain's 'scheme', they assumed. She told him what the letter said and that she wasn't going to visit him while she still had work to do around the library. "That's understandable, but why does he insist on bothering you? Aren't there other, more important Noxians he could be courting or something?" Ez inquired further as he took a piece of bacon and munched away on it.

Mikki leaned back into the chair as she looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sure there are more important people out there for him to bother, but why me, I don't know." She said as she leaned back forward to take another bite of her eggs, suddenly not feeling very hungry. Ez rubbed her back in sympathy as he took another bite of his own eggs. "I'm sure he won't try and get a hold of you again tonight. If he did, you could keep him at bay from here without much effort, thanks to the pacifist spell around this place." He said, trying to cheer her up, but the look on her face told him there was something she didn't tell him about the letter. "Okay, spill it. What else was on that invitation?"

Mikki got up abruptly as Ez looked up at her, perplexed. "I'll be right back, I need to fish the letter from the trash." she said simply as a purple rune formed under her feet one second and the next, she was no longer in the kitchen. Ezreal looked around, expecting her to walk back, but as suddenly as she disappeared, she reappeared on the purple rune clutching a crumpled sheet of paper. The rune dissipated as she took her seat once again next to him and handed him the invitation. "Take a gander and you tell me what you think is bothering me." She mumbled as she stared up at the ceiling again. Ezreal looked over the invitation with careful eyes as he read each word.

"_To Mikki Halsnight, _

_While I have not expressed my gratitude for your tolerance of my presence _

_during the twilight hours just before the dawn, I wish to thank you personally by _

_having you attend one of my late night socials tonight after you've finished your duties _

_as head librarian._

_While I'm sure you won't turn down a personal invitation, I've gone ahead and will _

_be sending an escort to pick you up one hour from the time you receive this letter._

_I look forward to seeing you here and be sure to wear you best formal attire._

_Sincerely, Jericho Swain"_

Ezreal stared at Mikki as she had her eyes closed the whole time he was reading the letter. "He's sending someone anyway? That's outrageous!" He stood up, knocking his chair over which startled Mikki from her sulking as she looked up at him. "Why do you think I told Kat to tell him my answer? If she did as she was told, he will be forced to come himself and, if he doesn't, I'll just send away his escort and go to bed." She said as she gave a shuddering yawn after being awake for so long. He picked his chair back up and took his seat again, now ignoring the food on their plates. The time showed twenty till nine and the time Katarina showed was around ten minutes before the current time. "So nine thirty is when his escort is to show up for you, what are you going to do between now and then?" He asked as Mikki got up and took her plate and disposed of it, no longer hungry.

"Send the escort away when he comes or face Swain if he comes instead. So many outcomes, too little time to plan for them all." She said softly as she looked back at Ezreal. "It would be best if you left before anyone comes. I know you don't care much for Noxians as it is and I'm sure Kat told Swain you were here as well." She said calmly, putting on her best head librarian persona in preparation for the next visitor. Ezreal started to protest with her, but stopped when she raised her hand at him. "I will not have you getting involved in this. If this is about what's he's been looking over the past month, then it's best I kept it between myself and Swain." She shifted her stern face to soften lightly as she tried her best to give him an honest smile. "I'm really lucky to have you as a good friend, truly, but this is personal to me. Please understand this."

Ezreal nodded as he got up and threw away his own plate and walked next to her and pulled her into a bear hug. "I don't want Swain turning you into one of them." He said as he held her tightly, keeping his head next to hers on the shoulder. "You're the only Noxian I don't dislike in the least and something tells me you got something that he wants and he'll do what ever it take to get it from you." He continued to say as he felt her pat his back gently. "I know, Ez. I promise I won't let him change me or take anything I deem valuable." She whispered back as she slowly released him and vice versa. He smiled widely at her as she softened her face more.

They walked slowly out to the front of the library in silence and stood just in front of the doorway, looking at each other with concern. "I hope you'll be okay. Who knows what they'll try once you leave this place." Ez said softly as Mikki gave a small amused huff. "I will be. I didn't train in using magic for nothing, you know." She countered back at him as she gave him a final hug. "I'll see you when you visit next time and try to come during library hours for my sake?" She said to him as he nodded. "I'll try, but no guarantees." With that, Ezreal walked out the door and flashed away in the direction of the Institute of War.

Mikki pulled the front door shut and locked it, not wanting any unwanted visitors for the next forty five minutes as she looked out in the direction of Noxus and giving it a heavy sigh as she headed up to her apartment to prepare for the worst possible outcome.


	5. Chapter 4: Regret

Chapter 4: Regret

Clean and dressed in her finest robes, Mikki took one last look in the mirror at the reflection of her prettied up self. Her hair was pulled into a high pony tail then braided the rest of the way so the tip only reaches half way down her slightly exposed back. The dress was a royal blue with silver lining along the neckline and edges of the long sleeves while the waist was tied with elegant silver sash that hung along her hips. She pulled out her only 'special' occasions black shoes and slipped into the uncomfortable things as the heel was an inch off the ground and she had flat feet that made walking in them difficult. Standing up, she wobbled slightly before taking a few test steps to see if can hold her balance for a time. All this in hope that she just gets to turn away the escort, but if Swain did come instead, she might have to accept his invitation, hence the outfit.

She glanced at the clock on her wall and saw it was five till the time the escort would arrive. With a deep sigh, she slowly made her way down the stairs in the heels, trying hard to keep her balance as she descended to the ground floor. A familiar knock sounded as she touched down the last step of the stairs. It seems her worse case scenario has come to get her. Mustering all the energy she could, she stepped lightly towards the front door and peered through the peep hole again. Dread started to pool in the pit of her near empty stomach as she saw Swain standing in his full High Command outfit, mask and all, as Beatrice sat on the left mantel of his shoulder guard. It seems he accepted her challenge and is going to make her regret that action.

Withdrawing from the front door for only a moment, she shuddered and tried to pull herself back together as her hands fumbled away at the locks on the door. He knew she was there, that's why he didn't knock a second time. Slowly, Mikki opened the door and prepared to take on the full assault of Swain's challenging gaze. Looking up for only a second upon his mask and meeting his deep red eyes that peered through for just a quick second before she lowered her head all the way to put her gaze at his feet. "You have some nerve to go and challenge me, librarian." Even his voice cause her to shudder as she shut her eyes tightly at the tone. How is this the same man that came before the crack of dawn? Is it because she was fully aware he might be coming, or just the change in outfit and reason on why he's standing in front of her now?

Swain put the head of his cane under her chin and lifted it so she can see his fury. He wasn't surprised Katarina came back with the news that she wouldn't accept the invitation, but the challenge she told Kat to relay to him was the reason he stood at the library doorstep again. He saw that she was visibly shaken by his current presence, on the verge of tears as she stood in the doorway, being forced to look him straight in the eyes. "You brought this upon yourself, child." He said as he removed his cane from under her chin as her head dropped back down to put her gaze at his feet again. He looked her over as he saw that she put effort into the outfit she wore, though plain due to the lack of any jewelry.

"Since I accepted your challenge and apparently won, you will be joining me for the night at the gathering." Mikki nodded slightly as she wobbled where she stood. Swain moved next to her, which made her jump at the sudden closeness, and offered his right arm. She glance at his arm for a moment before slowly placing her hand around the crook of his elbow. He walked slowly for her as she kept stumbling and losing balance as they reached his carriage. The driver opened the door as he motioned for Mikki to step inside first, helping her into the front seat then backed out to let Swain in, seating himself across from her. With a soft click, the door shut and the carriage started to move, turning around and bound for Noxus.

All possible grace was lost to Mikki as she sat in her seat, staring intently on her hands clutched in front of her as she swayed easily to the wobbling of the moving carriage. Swain on the other hand kept his composure as he watched the shaken librarian as she moved her feet as if to take the heels off, but never does so. "If you believe that you'll feel better, go ahead and take the things off." With that, Mikki leaned forward and slipped off the uncomfortable heels and set them next to her on the seat. She looked up at him for just a moment to give him her thanks before going back to silently staring at her hands again. Irritated with her constant silence since he arrived, he tilted her head back up again, this time with his hand. "You haven't spoken a single word. Are you truly afraid or does that library give you more confidence than you really have?"

Mikki flinched at his touch as she looked back at him with as much defiance as she could come up with, but not very much cause her eyes were still moist from the pending tears that threaten to form. "I-it's…" she couldn't form the words that are on her mind, her voice lost to the dread that gripped at her from the sight of his form before her. Powerless is what she felt since leaving the library grounds. The shield no longer able to keep her safe from what lies ahead in Noxus as they rode further away. Many times she has left the library to stock up on new materials and food and felt no different than when she was in her home, but this was nothing like those times. The master tactician wasn't someone she could fend off easily not like a simple pick pocket or armed robber outside of the pacifist shield around her home.

He released her chin as he leaned back into his seat. "You haven't been outside the library with someone who's motives are unknown to you, is that it?" he inquired as he watched her closely. She didn't lower her head as much this time as she rubbed at her chin gently and nodded her head to answer him, since she still couldn't find her voice. He smirked under his mask as he continued to watch Mikki slowly recover from the shock of his terrifying presence. "I see and I'm sure you'll also want to know why I'm doing this tonight instead of another night?" Again, another nod as she looked up at him, showing some curiosity that she is well known for.

Swain looked out the carriage window as they past by the gates to the city before carrying on the one sided conversation. "While you want the answers, I'll give them to you after we grace my guests tonight." He said calmly as she fidgeted in her seat, obviously upset she's not going to get her questions answered right away. Mikki glanced at the uncomfortable heels next to her and sighed, as she knew she had to put them back on again. "Another thing." She snapped her attention back to him as he spoke. "You'll need to put on more accessories before showing up in the main gathering hall." She wanted to say something to it, but then pulled back as she glanced at the heels again.

Moments past in silence as their carriage arrived at it's destination in the heart of Noxus. The building was a grand hall, used mostly for such social gatherings and concerts. Mikki fumbled with the heels as the driver waited for her to finish so he could help her out as Swain went ahead and left the carriage and looked up at the hall before turning to see Mikki swayed dangerously on the steps off the carriage. "You should look for new footwear while you get some jewelry." He commented as he offered his arm again to her as they made their way up the small stairway to the front opening. The front room was filled with Noxian nobles and government officials, all wearing the Noxus colors except for the ladies of the room who wore whatever pleased them, all flashy in bright colored dresses and accessories that Mikki could only dream of.

As they walked in, everyone turned their attention to them, all eyes looking at Swain and the plain looking girl that's holding onto his arm for balance. "Good evening to all who came this wonderful night. While I'm sure some of you would like to ask questions or express some concerns, I'm afraid it'll have to wait for a while longer." Swain announce to the crowd as they now stared at Mikki with looks of disgust or jealousy as Swain pulled her to the right, putting her next to the wall, covering her from all the stares as they slipped down a hallway that had mostly small groups of women before stopping in front of a door labeled 'Dressing Room'. "Take your time, you'll be able to find me once you're done getting ready." He whispered to her as he opened the door and lightly pushed her in and left.

The room was full of pieces of clothes strewn about the ground, hangers holding the more valuable dresses and cloaks as she wobbled to the mirror with a rather large jewelry box sitting on the counter top. She sat down on a stool furthest from the door as a couple ladies walked in chatting loudly as they started to fix their make-up and adjust their accessories. Mikki looked into the mirror as she saw that her eyes were getting a bit red from earlier as she took hold of a tissue and used it to dab away at the access moisture from her eyes. She wanted to run far from this place, but her honor won't let her back down from this as she opened the box before and started digging through the gaudy jewelry.

She pulled out bits and pieces, till she managed to find a dark sapphire choker with matching clip on earrings, adjusting them around her neck and making sure the earrings won't fall at the slightest movement of her head. With the way her hair was pulled back, the earrings will be noticed as well as the choker and with that, she searched the ground for a different pair of shoes to wear. Most pairs were too big or were missing it's partner before she looked a bit further back to find a pair of black dress shoes without such a high heel. Trying them on, they clasped on for a snug fit, but the shoe was maybe a half size bigger than her foot. She found some spare pieces of cloth and tucked them behind the heel of her foot to cover the space and walked around the dressing room to test if it'll hold.

Satisfied with the upgrade in accessories and footwear, she left the dressing room and wondered around till she found the main social area. Like the front room, it was packed with people despite the fact it was easily three times the size of the first room. Mikki slowly made her way through the groups of nobles and officials before she felt a large hand clasp down into her shoulder. Spinning around, she faced the person who wanted her attention and was standing face to face with a tuxedo wearing Singed, even though he was still mostly bandaged from mouth to toe. "Singed! What a surprise!" She said awfully loud due to the shock of seeing him in something other than his normal battle or lab attire.

"Calm yourself, young librarian, no need to make a fuss." he replied as he slowly pulled Mikki off to the closest wall in the room. "Swain wanted to make sure you were still here and it seems he was worrying over nothing." He chuckled under his bandages as he looked her over. "You would have been better off in your normal attire, blue doesn't suit you very well." he commented as he looked around as if trying to find something. She gave him a look, but it was ignored as he waved a bandaged hand at someone she couldn't quite see over the crowd. "Who are you waving at?" She asked as she tried to stand on her toes but to no avail.

He didn't answer as he looked at her again. "Would you like a drink? Most of the drinks here were supplied by myself and my associate, Gragas, from our brewery." he asked her as she waved her hands in front of her in a bit of a panic. "No, thank you. I'm good." Singed didn't seem to notice as he told her to wait and walked off towards the tables on the other side of the room. She wanted to follow him but he might just carry her back to this spot and cause more trouble than she already had from earlier. A few moments past before she spotted him walking back, holding a single glass filled with a clear liquid contained inside. "Is that water, by chance?" She inquired as he chuckled again. "Of course not, it's a special champagne that we concocted for gatherings like this one." He finally answered as he gently handed her the glass.

Upon closer inspection, it was lightly bubbling and a small white mist was rising from the contents of the glass. It was most certainly not a normal champagne indeed as she looked up at him with worried eyes. "It's safe, right?" Singed only kept chuckling as she sniffed at the misty vapor, smelling peppermint and something else she couldn't quite place. She never had any kind of alcoholic drink in her life and here was a glass of poison that only Noxian nobles, officials, Gragas and Singed would know about. She inhaled deeply and slowly brought the glass to her lips and gently tipped the contents towards her, sipping lightly as she felt the clear liquid start to cause a burning sensation in the back of her throat as she gagged a little at the strong peppermint taste. A moment later, the taste shifted as it no longer tasted like peppermint, but unsweetened chocolate and the drink that managed to be swallowed made her empty stomach uncomfortably warm.

"First time drinking something so strong or first time drinking in general?" Singed inquired as Mikki reached up to her head as she felt the room start to spin around her, though she wasn't moving. He gently place a hand on her back as he tried to keep her upright and took the glass from her hand before any was spilt. With gentle motion, he guided her around the crowd to a smaller, less populated room and had her sit down on one of the padded benches as she leaned back into the wall, dizzy, tired and extremely warm. "Stay here for a while and I'll be right back with some water." he told her as she weakly nodded and closed her eyes.

She was unaware of the time that past as she heard voices speaking loudly in front of her, or was it off to her side? "She isn't suppose to be drinking while she's here, Singed." An angry voice sounded as she tried her best to open her heavy eyes, but couldn't. "I didn't realize, my apologies." Singed replied as she could hear his heavy footsteps move away from her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her as she realized she must of tipped over onto the bench while she was dozing off. Giving a groan, Mikki tried to move, but couldn't sit up as her head felt like a lead weight holding her down. "No alcohol tolerance. Singed, you're going to help me carry her up to the guest room." The first voice she started to recognize, but before she could try and say a word, she was lifted off the bench like a potato sack by Singed and pulled back into another black out.

How much more time past was still unclear as she felt herself laying on her back on a slightly firm bed as she gave another groan from the heavy throb she felt in her head. With some effort, she managed to open her eyes and see that it was a four post canopy bed she was sleeping in. Tilting her head she looked around the room and found one person sitting on the other side of the room. Swain wasn't wearing his mask any more as she could see his hair and usual bandana that covered his mouth and nose, Beatrice was sitting on the night stand next to Swain as he watched her with some regret in his red eyes. "My apologies about Singed's behavior and the drink." He said softly as she looked back up at the canopy cover. "It's…fine." She managed to say before looking back at him.

He stood up and walked over to the side of the bed and picked up a glass of what looked like water and gently reached under her shoulders and pulled her upright. "Drink, you'll feel better once you get water in you." Mikki nodded as she sipped at the tasteless liquid, feeling slightly better. She noticed the jewelry she was wearing was gone as she looked on the nightstand and saw the earrings and choker laying there. "I'm sorry, I guess I can't drink stuff like that." she mumbled as Swain shook his head at her. "No, I should have been clear to him about some things." He rubbed her back gently as she sipped more of the water slowly. "I really should go home." She told him as he looked at a small clock that sits on the night stand as well. It was well past midnight and Mikki was still feeling tired from all that has happened tonight.

Swain nodded as he stood back up and faced her. "I'll see you back to your library myself." He said as Mikki shuffled a bit to place her feet on the ground, not even bothering to place them in her shoes as he gently lead her through the empty hall to their carriage out front. They sat in silence as they rode out to Mikki's library, forgetting all about the questions they had for one another. The trip back seemed much shorter as Mikki was lead from the carriage to the front door by Swain. "You rest well now and we'll talk again soon." He said as Mikki nodded and waved good bye as he left. Locking the front door to the library once she was inside, she shuffled her way up to her apartment and fell into a deep sleep for the night.


	6. Chapter 5: Recovery

Chapter 5: Recovery

_~A dry landscape filled her vision as she stood in silence, surrounded by cracked dry earth. She was wearing a mage's battle robe and holding tightly to a tall staff with both hands like her leg was injured. Bodies strewn around her, faces fogged from her sight as she over looked the carnage with worried eyes. With a limp, she moved around and was now over looking a crater where more bodies laid battered and broken. In the center, two flags stood crossed on the ground. One Demancian, one Noxian, both ruined from the blast. At last, she spied familiar bodies laying on the ground, but as soon as she recognized them, everything turned black as she could only hear her own screams of horror.~_

The morning light spilled through the windows into the small apartment, shining it's rays onto the sleeping body that laid still on the bed. Mikki was still wearing the dress and her hair slowly lost it's tie for the braid and was unraveling, leaving it into a curly mess around her head. When the light hit her face, she rolled to her side as she felt her stomach growl loudly from the lack of any substance from the previous day. Cracking a single eye, she looked at the time as she saw it was half an hour to opening time. With much effort, she sat up from her bed and made her way to her desk next to her bed, setting up a single piece of paper and preparing her quill pen. With some thought through the haze of the hangover, she wrote out the sign that will be posted to the library's front door.

"_To all patrons of the Grand Noxus Library,_

_The library won't be opened today due to my health being in poor condition this morning._

_With all apologies, I'll be sure to have the library open tomorrow at the regular time._

_Sorry for the inconvenience._

_Mikki Halsnight"_

With a short nod, she circled her hand over the paper as a familiar purple rune showed under it and watched as it disappeared. A moment later, she heard some outcries below her window as she moved sluggishly to see some of the crowd glare up at her, screaming questions that she won't answer due to the throb that still resides in her head. A cough came over her as she moved to sit down on her bed. Last night was all a haze to her as all she could remember was Swain bringing her to the Grand Hall and showing her to the dressing room. Singed was there, too, though parts with him were much hazier. She really need to take today off from everything.

First things first, she need to eat a proper meal and find a remedy for the headache that she still has as she swayed to the door to the library and kept a tight grip on the stair railing. Moments past as she could still hear the chatter of upset patrons still sitting outside the library door, disusing why she's not opening the library today of all days while she headed to the west wing kitchen area. After a while, she decided on a bagel with butter with a glass of orange juice as she sat alone at the table, slowly ridding herself of the poison that still sits in her veins.

Renewed clarity filled her mind as Mikki glanced down at herself, disgusted by the fact she was still wearing the dress from last night. In an almost rightful fit, she placed a person sized purple portal rune under her and teleported to her room to change. Though it was a one way teleport, the rune sat were she arrived at as she took the time to wash up and put on her normal Noxian librarian robes and fixed her hair so it flowed freely down her back, still retaining the curls from being braided the night before. The noise from in front of the front doors was quieting as people realized she was serious about taking today off.

Another cough disrupted her train of thought as she realized she should send a letter to Signed, asking for an apology for giving her that drink when she really didn't want in the first place. Mikki strolled to her desk again, picking up the quill and pulling another sheet of paper out from the black sheet pile she keeps in the corner and started to write:

"_Dear Singed,_

_While I vaguely remember that you apologized to Swain about giving _

_me that drink, I wanted to let you know that I would also like an apology from _

_you myself about it as well. I told you I wasn't thirsty and yet you proceeded to give me a _

_glass of unknown contents that didn't quite agree with my system. Since I know _

_you won't just come out to the Noxus Library because I asked you to so I'm _

_going to let you take your time on giving me that apology. If you find that my argument_

_is invalid, then allow me to say that due to the fact I drank that vile poison, I did pass _

_out while in your care and ended up with a hangover the size of Baron Nashor which_

_left me in no condition to run my library today._

_Come to the library when you can and I await your face to face apology._

_Sincerely, Mikki Halsnight"_

It must be the Noxian in her that's being so demanding over something so small, but that something was important to her as she now clearly remembers that she should have gotten answers from Swain last night, but was incapacitated because of the champagne. She swiftly rolled up the letter and tied it off with a dark green ribbon before using another small transport rune to deliver the letter right to Singed, regardless of where he might be. Standing up, she strolled back to the purple teleport rune in the middle of her floor and zipped back to the kitchen to make a bowl of fruit for the rest of the morning.

The rest of the morning past by without any interruptions as she reorganized the books into their proper sections, labeled and placed Ezreal's new map into the current map shelf, and successfully cleaned the ground floor of any food crumbs that the patrons might have created. The afternoon, however, brought a guest she simply couldn't turn away, even if she wanted to. A loud resounding knock filled the library as she ate away at her sandwich back in the kitchen. With a resigned sigh, she swiftly walked to the door and opened it to find the Curator of the Sands standing tall in front of her. "Nasus, what brings you here?" She asked him as he studied her form from where he stood.

"I was told you might have been in need of some help with the library today." He answered calmly as he glanced at her sign next to the door. "It seems your health is back to how it was the last time I saw you." He continued to remark as he took the notice off the wall and slipped by Mikki into the library. Some of the usual patrons noticed what Nasus did and started to approach the library as well while she was distracted with his eagerness to keep the library open, even though she wasn't finished with her cleaning. "I appreciate the help you're willing to give me, Nasus, but I was also using the time to clean the library while no one is around." She tried to explain to him as he took her seat behind the Information and Checkout Counter.

He looked at her with his dog like face and shrugged. "Even still, it's best to leave your doors open to those that require the information you hold here." he said as Mikki walked around the counter and stood next to him. "Then riddle me this, who said I needed help today?" She asked him as he looked up at her and tilted his head. "The curious answer would be that two people let me know that this might happen today." Mikki raised an eye brow at Nasus's answer and leaned on the counter. "Who then?" Nasus was already checking out a summoner that came to the counter with books ready to check out. "Ezreal was the first I would expect to tell me about this and the second made me curious as to why he would as such a favor for you." He replied as the summoner left the counter only to be replaced with a student with the same needs.

Mikki figured Ezreal would due to the fact he was the last one to see her before her journey to Noxus, but then, the second person Nasus mentioned could only be who she thought it might be. "Was Swain the second person that told you?" She continued to pry at the curator as he did her job for her. He nodded as he swiftly moved on to the next person in line. "You're thinking now. That's good." He gave her a bit of a smile before shooing her away to let her go rest for the day. She didn't argue that she needed the rest and set off to her apartment above the library. She had more letters to write.

With the same mentality as before, she took her place at her writing desk and pulled another blank sheet to write on. First to Ezreal.

"_Dear Ezreal, _

_I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing well still and wish to thank you for _

_sending Nasus to help out with the library as I recover from last night. Swain came_

_to get me himself, but he did nothing to hurt me, even outside of the library,_

_though I regret taking a drink of that champagne Singed and Gragas came up with._

_Got a massive headache that took hours to get rid of. Other than that, nothing else truly_

_happened and I'm back home safe in the library with Nasus for company._

_Again, thank you for all that you've done._

_Sincerely, Mikki"_

Looking over her first letter, she gave it a nod of approval as she sealed it up the same way with dark green ribbon and sent it by transport rune straight to him. She omitted some of the details from Ez, not wanting him to worry over her more than he already has. Pulling a fourth piece of paper, it was time to write to Swain as much as she might yet again regret doing, but it needed to be done.

"_Dear Jericho Swain,_

_I am writing to you because neither of us got what the other wanted last night. _

_I would like to put forth my own invitation and personally invite you to the library _

_after open hours to discuss the topics we had for one another for tomorrow night. If you_

_find this time inconvenient, send me a message by carrier and let me know when a good_

_time for you will be. I await your response._

_Sincerely, Mikki Halsnight"_

And with that, she rolled up the letter, but hesitated on sending it to him. Something in the back of her mind was bothering her about how much in touch she has been with him already. Letting him come at early morning hours to read old journals of her predecessors that ran the library before her, bending to every one of his whims, despite objecting to most of them, and letting him take her away from her home to a gathering she didn't get to enjoy. Her heart ached at the thoughts as she held the letter in her hands, like she wanted to see him, but not for the reasons in the letter she's about to send to him.

Quickly, she sent the letter away before more intrusive thoughts filled her head about it and moved to lay down in her bed. She looked at the clock on the dresser before she flopped down on the bed as it read near closing time for the library. Sighing, she moved away from the inviting bed as she made her way down the stairs to the ground floor to find Nasus filing away book onto the shelves. "Did you already send everyone home?" She asked him as he nodded his head. "Of course, I know you like to lock up before the sun sets." He replied as he finished putting the last book in place. "I'm leaving now. Be sure to open on time tomorrow for everyone." He said as he made his way out of the library and closing the door behind him.

Mikki locked up the library shortly after Nasus left, making sure he really did get everyone out before the got stuck inside with her. With that, she heading back up to her room and changed into her night gown and slipped into bed, falling asleep in hopes that the next day will not be so difficult.


	7. Chapter 6: Clarification

Chapter 6: Clarification

Upholding her promise to Nasus, Mikki opened the library at the eight o' clock hour in the morning as patrons filled the hallways and desks around the building. Refreshed from taking yesterday off, she quickly fell back into the groove of maintaining the library like she always have. The day slowly passed with ease as familiar faces came to greet and wish her well now she was over the 'cold' from yesterday. Explaining that she had a hangover wouldn't sit too well with most of the patrons as she glanced around the main portion of the library, seeing no champions from the League in today. "Must be a busy day for the Fields of Justice today." She muttered to herself as she placed back books that were returned.

A quick glance up at the giant clock that hung above the front door read just past closing as she continued with her daily cleaning after closing. With no return message from Swain, she assumed he would be visiting tonight, though, if he didn't, she'd give him a piece of her mind. A mix of worry and distrust swirled around her head the more she thought about it as she paced about the library, waiting patiently as she could for his arrival. Ten o' clock rolled around as she sighed and started heading up to her apartment, but just as she reached half way, a knock was heard at the front door. With an eager rush, she hopped the railing to the spiral stair case, causing a loud thud on the floor and stumbling a bit as she clamored to the door to unlock it.

"What was your hurry?" Mikki looked up to see Swain standing there, in his normal attire of his Noxian battle robes, Beatrice still sitting on his left shoulder. She gave a weak laugh as she felt her leg ache from the reckless jump. "I wasn't in a hurry, I was just waiting here, patiently." She mumbled as she straighten herself out and stepped aside for Swain to come in. He only gave her a look of unconcern as he strolled by her. "I guess last night did turn out as planned for either of us, did it?" He asked her as she locked the door back up. She shook her head as she turned to face him. "Of course not. Having Singed look after me wasn't the best thing you could have done." She told him sternly as he started heading to the usual private study upstairs.

Following him up, she slowly made her way up the spiral stairs as her shins started to burn from the stress she put on them from the jump, causing her to groan under her breath as she tried to keep up with Swain. When they reached the far study room, Swain had her enter first before following and closing the door behind them. Sitting down on the padded bench, she looked up at Swain as he walked on the other side of her and took up the other end of the bench, putting his raven between them. "So where should we start?" She asked him as they both stared in from of them, Beatrice looking at Mikki and cawed loudly in her ear, causing her jump and make a mock swipe at the bird. "Swain, tell your raven that wasn't nice!" She muttered as she scooted to the left edge as far as she could get from the bird.

Swain gave a small chuckle at her reaction to Beatrice as he petted his raven gently before letting the bird fly off to the other side of the room and landing on the arm of Swain's usual chair. "Have you ever wondered why you've always been here at this library all your life?" He questioned her as she looked at him, tilting her head in confusion. "No, should I? I mean, my mother did leave this place to me when she past away four years ago." She answered him as Swain pulled out the last journal he checked out behind Mikki's back, watching her reaction. "Wait, is that my mother's journal? You took it without asking!" Raging at him seemed logical at the time, but she did nothing to try and harm him, just fumed and verbally let him know that she wasn't happy about it.

He raised his hand at her as she slowed her rant and pouted at him angrily. "I apologize, but I know you don't allow valuable books to leave the library, so I 'borrowed' it from the other night, seeing as it was the last one to be read." He explained to her as she continued to stare at him with her upset face. "I give your mother credit for mentioning more than her father and others before him about your family curse." Mikki's face softened as she heard the mention of the curse that seemingly bound her to this place. "She did what?" She was shocked seeing as all she was taught about writing anything about it was near forbidden except small mentions here and there. Choked up she looked at him in horror, though not quite the same terrified look she gave him the night before, but more shocked horror.

"That's right, your mother broke the rules of your family and now I see why it was forbidden. While your family held a long line of rune casters, they were deemed too dangerous to allow them to have students outside of their bloodline, your ancestors decided it would be best if they bound themselves to an area where not many would come to seek rune magic training, am I correct?" He looked a bit smug under his bandana as Mikki hung her head at the fact Swain found this out through her mother's journal. Her reaction was enough of an answer to Swain as he looked over the distraught librarian. "You mother also mentions another detail I'm sure she kept from you all these years as well." He mentioned, causing Mikki to stare up at him again.

"Why are you telling me things, Swain?" She asked him back as he sighed and seated himself so he can face her better on the bench. "Because I need you. Your talents would be most useful to me if I can get you unbound from this place." He replied as she stared at him again with furrowed brows. "You want me to use the magic I know to help you, but staying bound here where you can keep track of me isn't enough for you?" she countered at him as he nodded. "Of course. With you bound here, you can only send things so far across Valoran, but, if you were able to travel out, you'd be able to cast even further than staying here." He paused for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing. "Your mother already took a step to breaking the bonds already. She just needed you to not be of pure Noxian blood."

Mikki blinked at him before glancing at the journal in his hand then back to his face. "What do you mean 'not pure Noxian'? Are you saying my father wasn't someone from Noxus?" She never knew her father and with Swain holding the only clue to that, she wanted to know. Swain shook his head then glanced at the journal himself. "I was just as surprised myself. It seems your mother wanted to thin the blood that's bound to the library, like pulling taffy, stretching it till it breaks." The shock on Mikki's face didn't leave as she looked away, all that she knew, shattered with the news of her father. Here, she believe she was a pure Noxian, proud and noble, but then she realized her personality didn't fit the Noxian stereotype at all. It made sense now.

She always thought it was odd that she was able to stay away from the library for a much longer period of time than when her mother was bound to the library. Did the lack of her Noxian bloodline really make a difference on how the curse worked on her? Looking back, she noticed other flaws that came with her unknown bloodline from her father. Rather than being an aggressive teen, she was laid back and calm, almost serene, to most bullying and not very outgoing except when it came to learning new things. "Did she mention where my father was from, by chance?" She asked Swain calmly as she looked back at him, knowing he'd know the answer. He opened the journal in his hands as he scanned the pages, looking to see if he did see something.

"Are you sure you want to know?" He asked as he kept looking through the entries. Mikki nodded vigorously as she watched him look with curious eyes wide open. Swain placed a single finger to one of the pages as it slowly slid under the words till finally he stopped. "Your father was a Demancian noble that your mother charmed into loving her." He said finally before he looked at Mikki's face. Tears ran down her face as she crossed her legs and slouched over, both happy and horrified at the same time. Half Noxian, half Demancian. "All these years. I never knew…." She sob and rubbed at her eyes, almost to hide the fact she was crying, even though he already saw the tears. Swain closed the journal as he waited for Mikki to stop crying.

After a couple moments of sniffling, she soon cleared her eyes and looked at Swain. He face didn't give anything away about the news of what she really is, but then again, he probably knew last night and that was why he wanted to speak to her about it. "So that's it. Demancian and Noxian. I guess I'm stuck in the middle." She mumbled as she sighed heavily. Swain reached a hand and placed in on her right knee which catch her attention as she looked at his hand for a moment before looking back up at him, her eye puffy red from the tears. "I already knew this, but I think it's for the best you know what you truly are before you join my side." He was setting something up and Mikki knew this. The master tactician didn't earn his title without a little planning to get to where he was now.

"Another pawn to your broad, then?" She asked bitterly as she straightened from her slouch. "Information on my father and a possible way to break the librarian curse so I would help you achieve what? You're already the leader of Noxus, unless you think I'm a way to deter Demancia from going to war with us?" She continued to say as Swain removed his hand from her knee and looked her straight in the eye. "You really think that I'm here to use you as a pawn? You're much more valuable than some minion on Summoner's Rift, no, you're more valuable than some of the champions that believe in nothing but fighting for 'fun'. You're a rune mage capable of connecting points that would otherwise never meet. Your presence alone would deter anyone, Demancia or otherwise."

Mikki gave him a look of distrust as she listened to him, picking out the truth spun from his speech. "You think I'm a wall to hold off enemies of Noxus then?" She questioned as she crossed her arms across her chest. Something was starting to stir in the back of her mind as she continued to defy Swain of her assistance, a dark presence that she ignored as she awaited his response. "If that's what you believe you'll be to me, you're wrong. A wall doesn't move, but you can. If I helped you finish breaking the curse, you'll be able to roam for as long as you want without returning after a twenty four hour period of time each week that currently holds you back."

A sharp pain streamed through her head as she gripped the sides of her head. _"A worthy offer and you're being held back by noble intentions,"_ a voice whispered through her mind as she snapped her eye open and looked around franticly. Swain saw the change and stood up, gripping both of her shoulders tightly. "What happened?" He asked quickly as she stared at him with worried eyes. "You didn't hear that?" She said before she suddenly realized he didn't. _"You need time. I'll be back again soon," _the voice whispered one last time before the presence disappeared from her mind. The hands on her shoulders gripped tighter which brought her attention back to Swain. "I'll ask again, what happened?" His voice more demanding than the last time as she leaned her head into his shoulder.

"There…was something in my head…" She started to say before trailing off, feeling drained suddenly, like all the energy and emotions she had just disappeared with the voice. She was breathing heavily as she felt Swain slide down next to her so she could lean on him a little better. "What was it that was in your head?" He asked her calmly, rubbing her shoulder to keep her awake long enough to answer. "A…voice. I didn't recognize it at all." She said softly, tilting her head to look up at him, hoping he would have one last answer for that. Swain shook his head as he looked around the study, noticing the time past them by quickly as it reached the eleventh hour. "It's late."

Mikki could only nodded at this point as she yawned sleepily on his shoulder as he felt her try and cuddle up to him to get a better position on him. At this point, Beatrice flew over from the chair and landed back on Swain's left shoulder and cawed loudly in her ear again, startling her off the bench this time. "Blasted bird!" She yelled as she realized she was on the ground and slowly picked herself off the ground and dust her rump off. Swain was also standing as he heading to the door and opened it. "Shall I see you to your apartment before I leave or do you think you can make it there yourself?" He asked her as she was glaring at his raven. She shrugged and followed him out the door to top of the spiral stairs. "The door will lock once you leave, so make sure you're not leaving anything behind." She said as she yawned loudly again.

He bid her farewell as he strolled out of the library, leaving Mikki to head up to her apartment for the night. With a change of clothes to her night gown once more, she crawled into bed before a familiar pain came back into her mind, intruding once more. _"He left you with a choice, a choice which I hope you make correctly," _the voice sneered as it left her once more drained and tired as she blacked out under the covers.


	8. Chapter 7: Desert Sands

Chapter 7: Desert Sands

Couple days past since her meeting with Swain over what he wanted from her. Going through the motions left Mikki feeling numb as she kept recalling all the information he gave her and the voice that seems to be watching her every move. While regular patrons asked what was wrong, she would tell them it's nothing or it just something that was left over from the 'cold'. It was late afternoon when a voice caught her attention as she was filing away some of the returned books. "Mikki, I have news for you from Lux." Said a blue man, covered in tattoos and holding a giant scroll to his back. Ryze was always a good friend to see, but he looked like he ghosted all the way from Demancia. "What happened there?" She asked him as he cleared his throat to answer.

"The book that you lent to Lady Lux has been stolen." He explained to her as Mikki sighed heavily. "I thought this might happen. Follow me." She beckoned Ryze to follow her to a small map room in the east wing of the library where a giant map the size of the table laid sprawled out, showing all of Valoran and the islands that surround it. "Let see where the book might be in hopes Lux just misplaced it somewhere." She muttered softly as she raised a hand over the map and concentrated on the blue rune that was affixed to the book when Lux checked it out. A faint glow showed on the map below her hand as she looked to see where the light was emanating from. The Shurima Desert area and it was moving still towards the west side to the Voodoo Lands. "Well then, that's not a good sign." She told Ryze as he was busy observing her use of magic as the light disappeared.

He looked at her as he crossed his arms across his chest in thought. "Who would take a book from Lux and be out so far in the Desert on the other side of the Great Divide?" He asked as Mikki scratched the top of her head and sighed. "I think I know. Lux only got the book from me cause the Demanian Library didn't have any copies at all and that they were stolen. Who do you think would benefit from the lack of knowledge on how to defend against void magic?" She asked him, seeing if he had the same person in mind as she did. "Malzahar? But why would he steal books that hardly anyone has seen or read?" Ryze questioned as Mikki was rolling up a smaller version of the map and placing it into a scroll holding case and slung it over her shoulder.

"That's like asking why we keep seeing new Void creatures enter the League. He's trying to prevent us as a whole from stopping him or his cult from letting the void take over Valoran." She explained to him as he nodded in agreement. With the induction of Kha'zix, the count of prominent void beings was raised to three. "I'm going to try and retrieve my book back from him. Care to join me, in case I have to return back to the library?" She asked him as he nodded. "It'll be my pleasure to join you." With a smile she started working on a teleport rune for the edge of the Shurima Desert and the Voodoo Lands. "I only got fourteen hours at least before I must return to the library for the rest of the week. Let's just hope he'll just hand the book back if we asked." She said as she raised her hand as the purple rune glowed and transported them to the desert.

Looking around, she saw nothing but sand in the evening light as the sun set slowly on the west horizon. "Well, I got us hopefully in the way of our perpetrator is heading seeing as this is as far as I port regardless." She told Ryze, who was also looking around for signs of life other themselves. Pulling out her map, she started to concentrate again on the book's rune as well as their position so they can see how close she got them. Two lights started to show up on the map, one white, depicting where they were and the blue light showing the still moving book heading straight for them. Looking up from the map, they scanned the horizon for movement, but none yet showed. "Must be quite a distance to still not be seen, huh?" She said as they started to head in the general direction of where the book might be.

The lights on the map slowly got closer as they ran through the desert till they saw a faint violet light glowing in the distance. Cancelling her scrying magic, she quickly put away the map as Ryze pointed to a small boulder off to the side for them to wait behind. Glancing at the incoming light in the dimming sun set, they could clearly see the figure floating along and a smaller creature skittering along side the person. Waiting a few more moments, a clearer outline of the figured showed the person was wearing a cowl and had scarf hanging freely around the neck. "That's definitely him." Ryze whispered as they continued to watch as the figure got closer still.

"Think you can snare him so we have a chat with him?" Mikki asked as she started to see the color of the outfit Malzahar as it was the traditional twilight purple and the voidling next to him was no bigger than a couple feet tall. "Of course. Wait for it…" Just as Malzahar passed the boulder they were hiding behind, Ryze set his rune prison on Malzahar as the voidling started to charge Ryze in retaliation. With a simple toss of his thorn magic, the voidling collapsed and disappeared as they were now facing just Malzahar, who was trying to get free of the prison. "Ryze, you foolish being!" Malzahar screamed as they saw that he was carrying the book Lux checked out.

"You have something that doesn't belong to you, Malzahar, and I'm here to get it back." Mikki declared as she reached her hand out to indicate for the book he held. He looked at the librarian then laughed. "You'll never get your precious book back, librarian. It shall be destroyed first before it can teach people how to defend themselves again the Void." He spoke as the prison faded. Without warning, two spheres appeared on either side of Mikki and Ryze and sent out a powerful wave of magic that stung and silenced both of them as Malzahar started to run away towards the Voodoo Lands. "After him!" Mikki cried as they started running after Malzahar over the desert sand.

"I'll speed ahead and try to snare him down again." Ryze said between breaths as he started speeding off much faster than normal after Malz. Mikki was left behind as she tried to keep up with the two champions, wondering how they do this everyday on the fields of justice. Up ahead, she could hear screaming and lights flashing in the distance as spells were being cast. "I'm coming, Ryze!" She yelled out as she tried to run faster against the soft sand beneath her. _"You're so slow sometimes, child." _The voice returned to her mind, but before she could react to what it said, she flashed forward and was now facing Malzahar's back as he was about to cast another spell on Ryze, who was severely injured. Without another thought, she placed a red rune under Malzahar as it silenced and stunned him, stopping his spell from going off.

She waltzed over to the prone form as she pried the book from his hand as she looked down at him angrily. "You should have just given it back, Malzahar." She told him as he looked up at her with his own angry stare. Before he could say a word they were both encased in a magic cage that formed around both of them. "That's enough out of both of you." Someone called from the darkness that surrounded them as people came of the shadows, wearing elaborate purple robes, similar to ones summoners use, but more regal looking with fancy gold trimming along the hood and sleeves. Judging how they looked, Mikki determined that they were part of the League Adjudicators that manage champions outside of the Fields of Justice.

"You know the rules both of…." The man that called out earlier stopped mid-sentence when he saw that Mikki was the one standing in front of Malzahar as Ryze groaned behind them and dusted himself off. "She just wanted her book back from him and he kept resisting, gentlemen." Ryze told them as the leader looked between all three of them, then spied the book in Mikki's hands. "I-I see." He muttered as he motioned for the cage to disappeared around the librarian as she stepped back away from Malzahar to show she didn't want any more trouble than was already caused. "Well, that's a first time I've been caged up." She whispered to Ryze as she stood next to him. "Let's get you healed up here, real fast." Raising a hand, a green rune appeared beneath Ryze's feet as the wounds on his body started to fade away.

"Who knew you could heal?" He asked her curiously as she shrugged, watching the Adjudicators take away Malzahar to the Institute of War to have a little chat about tonight. "I learned a bit of everything from my mother. Each color rune has it's purpose and green is healing." She told him as she looked at the group around them. "So are we free to go home? I kind of need to let Lux know I got the book back." She asked the group as the head of the group turned to look at her. A shiver ran down her back as she was looking at the older man's bright green eyes that didn't hide the dark intent from her. "You may leave for now, librarian. You'll be called upon when we need you to tell your side of this at a later date." He told her as she nodded in silence.

Ryze stayed with the group as he bid Mikki farewell as he told her he would let Lux know that the book was found and back in her possession. Focusing back on the teleport rune left back at the library, she teleported back to the map room in the east wing. With no one around she locked up the library and headed back up to the apartment to clean up from tonight chase. Tonight events left more questions in her head than answers as she thought more about the head Adjudicator and how he sounded similar to the voice just before they showed up. Not only that, but how was she able to use flash, as if she was being controlled like a champion during the whole chase with Malz. Soaking in her bath as she stared up at the ceiling above her, a whisper ran through her mind like a knife. _"The more you think about it, the more you'll see what's to come." _

_Aggravated at the voice she sat up and yelled, "What's to come, you sorry bastard?" No reply as she sighed and got out of the warm water and dried off, slipping into the worn night gown, feeling the cold chill of the night as she stared out her window in contempt. She needed to talk to someone about this, but who was the real question. Perhaps her answers lie at the Institute of War she decided, so she shall wait for the summons from the head Adjudicator. "I'll know soon enough, indeed." She said silently to herself as she sat on her bed and soon drifted to sleep._


	9. Chapter 8: Understanding

Chapter 8: Understanding

The next morning after the romp in the Shurima Desert came with two letters of thanks and a date and time on when she should visit the Institution of War to document what happened last night between her, Ryze and Malzahar. She gave the Adjudicators credit on being punctual about keeping people in the loop if they were involved and, as for the thank you letters, one was by Lux saying thanks for getting the book back and will be stopping by to keep reading it soon and the other was also from the officials at the League for stopping Malzahar from destroying anymore public property. The time and date was set for after the weekend so her time would reset and be able to spend a full day outside of the library, which also meant that she would have to call on Nasus again to watch over the library in her place while she was out. In either case, she was going to be busy most of that day.

Regarding the weekend, it was slow with a few dedicated individuals that like to study in peace around the library making it easier for her to get some of her other duties done before closing time. The quiet made it peaceful to her as she smiled lightly to herself as she swept up old food crumbs off the floor around some of the study desks. Even if she decided to break the curse, nothing would stop her from staying and taking care of the library. It is her home, safe haven and place of business, there was no way she'd leave it for good. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't hear the footsteps and cane tapping of the person behind her as she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and spin around quickly. "Swain? What brings you here?" She stuttered as she glanced up at him as he stood a step away from her, his raven not present on his shoulders.

Swain looked her over and motioned upstairs. "Shall we go to your apartment to talk so we're not over heard?" He may have asked it like a question, but she knew it wasn't as she gave him a nod and followed him up the stairs all the way to her apartment room and closed the door behind them. She never had anyone in her private room in the library till now and she felt embarrassed about how plain the room is compared to the private study rooms. He didn't seem to mind as he turned to face her once again as she watched him curiously. "You're not being yourself, did what I told you change you that much?" He really questioned this time as Mikki tilted her head and looked off to the side.

"I really don't know." So much has happened over the last week that the emotions have piled up and just now started overflowing inside her, causing the unusual mellowness and anger waves she had been feeling lately. He was watching her closely, trying to pick out her lies and truths from what she says and does. "Swain, a lot has been going on the past week and it could be more than just the one night." She continued to say as he gave a short nod at her. "I see. I heard Malzahar was caught stealing last night because of you and Ryze. Proud of yourself for standing against a champion?" He seemed almost happy that she could fight, even if it was one spell.

"Ryze did most of the damage. I just stood back till I needed to stop Malz from doing anymore harm." She said truthfully as she looked at him square in the eyes. Swain smirked under his bandana as he moved to take a seat in her chair at the writing desk, tired from standing. "Did anything else happen, or was that the extent of last night?" He seems to know more than he let on, just waiting for her to clarify his potential facts about last night. She wanted to tell someone about what happened, guess she might as well see if Swain might know why. "I was able to use the summoner spell Flash to catch up to Ryze and Malzahar, just before I set my stun rune down." She told him as she moved to sit on her bed side, awaiting his reaction to this.

"I didn't think flash was able to be used by non-champions." He said at last as he tilted his head at her. "How is it that you were able to use it?" Mikki shrugged as she closed her eyes and yawned. "I would love to know myself, but I'm getting the feeling I'm being watched, and not just by anyone either." She opened an eye as she glanced at him. "I think it's someone from the Institute of War and they know what's going on between us." She told him. Swain kept his composure as he listened to her then looked back at her. "You really think that's what's been going on?" She nodded as she laid back into her bed. "I enjoy piecing things together as you do and, from what I told you, I'm sure you came to the same conclusion as I did."

That pulled a chuckle out of Swain as she swiveled in her bed so she could see him. "You really know how to keep up with me, librarian." He said to her as he leaned forward onto his cane. "Though, that begs the question of what interest does our famed Institute want with the Noxian Librarian?" Mikki sighed as she put her arms behind her head to keep it propped up. "I'll find out soon enough. I've been 'summoned' there to give them my side of what happened last night and, perhaps, I'll ask why I was able to do the things I did as well." She told Swain as he sat up right again. "So they want to talk with you, though not for the reason they stated in that letter, I wager." He gave another chuckle as she looked at him curiously.

"This news seems to be making you happy, I wonder why?" Mikki still knew what he wanted and he was closer to getting what he wanted each day. "Have you decided, I wonder?" He countered as she heaved a sigh as she stared up at the ceiling. "I was think about it before you snuck up on me. Even if the curse becomes broken, I'll stay here because this is still my home. You understand that, don't you?" She looked at him as she saw that he was grinning under his bandana. "Of course. I'm not asking you to leave your home, just become someone who I can call on when enemies of Noxus begin to move against us." He put it simply as she sighed again at him. "While I'm a pacifist at heart, if something does arise that's dire, I'll come when you call, but only if it's dire." She wanted to make it as clear as possible that's how she will be when things go down.

"If you insist. At least you decided to chose to join me." Swain said calmly as he moved off the chair and walked over to her bed and sat on the edge next to where she was laying. She watched him curiously as he placed his cane next to the head of the bed as he faced her spread out form. Pulling her arms out from behind her head and just let them sit on either side of her head as she blinked up at him, waiting for his move. "I think it's time I keep my end of our bargain." He said quietly as he leaned over her, placing a hand next to the other side of her head, his other hand, pulling down the bandana, exposing his nose and mouth, which the sight alone was a rare one. "S-swain?" Mikki stuttered as he leaned closer and before she knew it, his lightly scarred lips were touching her's, pulling them into a kiss.

Heat rose to her face as Swain held the kiss a moment longer before letting her gasp for air. "Swain!" She wanted to toss him off, but all energy to do so drained out of her arms as she looked up at him, bewildered and confused at what just occurred. He gave her a tiny shush before repeating the last action, only locking their lips a little more. A slight moan sounded in the back of her throat as he held this kiss, her eyes shut tight and her legs shifting around, as if trying to find solid ground to push against, but only succeeded in scooting the blankets down to the foot of the bed. Swain slowly moved so his body so he was was lined up with her while keeping their lips locked as he slid his hand under her shoulder and pulled her into him as he laid down onto his side, pulling her into an embrace, one arm under her neck for support and the other, wrapped around her small body holding her close by the small of her back.

Mikki gasped as he pulled this off as she felt his hand on her back slowly pulling her closer as the one behind her head petted lightly at her lengthy hair. Her face was beet red as she looked up at Swain, who seemed to be smiling gently. The thought of it alone seemed absurd but here he was, kissing her and holding her close like a cherished lover. She asked him to explain but his response was pulling her in to a more intimate kiss, parting her lips lightly with his own and pulling the moan that sat in her throat out from her. Her own hands were pinned between them, allowing her to at least grip at his robes in response. All part of his plan, but what was he trying to accomplish by seducing her in her own room?

Confusion ran through her mind as she noticed him now gently caressing her side and back, causing her to shudder at each stroke he made. She didn't understand it and he wasn't saying anything as they broke from the latest kiss. "Swain, please explain!" She gasped at him as he looked at her with his red eyes. He stopped his caresses but still held her tightly in his hold. "You haven't figured it out yet?" He questioned softly as he leaned past her head and took the tip of her ear into his teeth, which felt sharper than she thought, as he nipped lightly causing her to shudder at the feeling, her heart racing like last night, only without the running. "Think about it, your mother and those before her had to charm their partners to have a single child but you don't have to, thanks to your mother's choice to help break this curse." He whispered in her ear before pulling back and facing her again on his side.

Still bewildered at what he said, he quickly took advantage and pulled her into another kiss, this time, she put up less resistance against him as she started to fall into his assaults. Her mind was becoming hazy as if she had just taken another drink of Singed's champagne as she gripped his clothes tighter in her small hands. He's trying to do something, but it's something he couldn't tell her outright, she knew this much, but what he's currently doing was something that she never expected of him of all people to be doing this. He pulled at the small of her back, breaking her train of thought as she felt her hips collide with his, causing her to gasp at the feeling. Looking up at him, he seemed serious as the hold got tighter between them. It dawned on her as she felt the heat on her face get hotter. "You…want…." She couldn't quite say the words as she glanced down at his chest as she realize what he was doing.

"I'm willing to help you have a child of your own." He whispered as he pulled her head back up and gently kissed her again, slowly melting away the resistance even more. Her mind went into overdrive at what he just said, but gasped at the thought. "But, Swain, I don't want to have a child now!" She franticly told him as he petted her hair. "It doesn't have to be today." He reassured her as he pulled her head into his shoulder, letting her cuddle a bit as he held on to her small form. Something stirred in the back of her mind as she laid there, breathing heavily like a worn fighter. He was willing to give her the chance to have a child without manipulating any man. Did he really care for her that much that he was willing to do this for her?

The thoughts started swirling around as she felt herself cuddling against him willingly back. How much of this was truly real from him, she wondered as she glanced up at him. "Swain, do you…." She stopped mid-sentence as she was feeling embarrassed again from all the attention he was giving her personally. As if sensing the final words to her question, he kissed the top of her forehead gently. "Of course." That was all she wanted to hear as something tugged inside of her violently that caused her to grip his robes tightly in pain. He noticed this and held her tightly, reassuring her that he was there for her as the pain in the back of her mind and heart increased. Mikki cried out as the pain increased drastically before suddenly disappearing, leaving her whole body cold and numb as if she was dunked into cold water.

Her eyes watered up at the realization that she couldn't feel the presence of the library anymore. To her, it was alive and it was always there for her, but then another thought dawned on her on why it was no longer there. She started caring for someone else more than the library itself. Mikki felt her hair being gently petted as she looked up at Swain, tears rolling across her face. "It's….gone." She said at last after a moment of silence. He smiled and took his other hand off her back and gently wiped at the tears that were free flowing down her face. "How do you feel?" He asked her as she sniffled a it and gripped at his robe again. "Like I just lost a good friend." She mumbled to him as she leaned her head into his shoulder.

A few moment past as she slowly recovered from the curse breaking from her mind and body, Swain obviously pleased with the results as he continued to keep Mikki company till she was ready to move again. She groaned as she sat up with Swain as she looked about the room till her eyes caught the eye on the clock. "My gosh, the library!" She nearly flew off the bed if it wasn't for Swain slowing her down as he helped her get out of it with more grace then if she were to do it her self. It was near closing time and Mikki was a bit of a mess as she stood in front of the mirror above her dresser, fixing her hair as quickly as she could as Swain straightened his robe and picked his cane up as he followed her out of the apartment and through the library, watching her check for straggling students or summoners. "It seems everyone left, that's good." She sighed to herself before turning to Swain, who had now replaced his bandana back over his mouth and nose.

"Guess this means I can leave whenever I chose now." She said, almost sounding depressed at the thought as Swain nodded. "Yes, now you have the power to control when and where you go." He told her as she stepped into him and hugged him tightly around the waist. "I know you did this for mostly yourself, but I'm still grateful you did so, don't forget that." She whispered softly as he petted the top of her head gently with his free hand. "Of course not. It would be hard to forget how I made the great librarian blush with a simple kiss." He remarked as she gave him an exaggerated huff and released him from her hug.

"I should finish cleaning up around here, it's late and tomorrow is another day open." She said as she watched him carefully. He nodded and leaned forward to give her a gentle kiss through the bandana to the top of her head. "Of course. I look forward to our next day together." He said as he walked to the front door and left Mikki to her chores for the night. She heard Beatrice's caw outside and wonder if the reason Swain left her outside was because she would be jealous of Mikki cuddling with him. She smiled at the thought and returned to her sweeping for the rest of the night.


	10. Chapter 9: Dark Intentions

Chapter 9: Dark Intentions

With new found freedom, Mikki spent a fair amount of time over the weekend seeking champions out that would normally never come near Noxus as she rune teleported around Valoran, visiting some of the more reclusive fighters like Maokai and Malphite. Though she was able to find them, the greeting she received was either a small sappling chasing her around the forest or a stone cold silence as she tried to find out what each of them was like. With patience, she finally got the two give her some information on what they do during their down time and what they were like before joining the League. Thanking them both happily, she managed to add their stories to her Champion Stories shelves in the library.

With the weekend over, she knew she had to pay a visit to the Institution of War to give her account on what happened a few days back in the Shurima Desert. Getting dressed up in her formal Noxian robes for the library and pulling her hair back into a low hanging pony tail, she stepped out to the library where Nasus was, seeing him do her job yet again. "Thank you so much for this, Nasus. I'll be sure to repay you as soon as I can." She told him as he nodded in agreement. "It's no trouble, it's quite enjoyable to manage the library. You be safe on your way there and back." He said to her calmly as she nodded back at him before setting up her purple teleport rune and concentrating on the front steps to the Institution.

It's been a while since she visited the place as she now faced the granite steps leading to the main building. Staring up at the front, she saw the pillars holding up only a small portion of the over hanging that covers the entrance, giving it that ominous feeling as she gave a quick shudder and started up the steps. Upon entering the building, she felt a cold presence watch her as she walked through to the center of the first room. There wasn't much to see and with no one around, it made it seem lonelier than it let on as she glanced about at the surrounding hallways and doors. "So glad you can make it, Halsnight." A voice called to her right as she turned her head to see the Adjudicator that was leading the group from the night before.

"If you would follow me so that we may talk in private." He beckoned her to the hall way he was in as she followed him a fair ways through the building, taking note of every turn and labels that they past before they reached their destination. Opening a door, he waved to Mikki to walk in first as he followed behind her and closed the door, locking it. The room seemed a bit devoid of any thing except for a uprising in the center of the room, the feeling of dread slowly started creeping from the pit of her stomach as she turned to face the older gentlemen that lead her here. "All this just to get my account of what went on in the Shurima Desert?" She questioned him as he walked closer to her taking her upper arm and giving it a slight pull in the direction of the pedestal in the center of the room.

"Stand right in the center and then we'll proceed." The man said as she glanced at him, just before stumbling up the steps onto the pedestal, seeing the same dark intent in his green eyes like before as she realized the lights in the room dimmed around her except for the lights above her. Blinking a few times to readjust to the brightness of the lights she heard the man speak again, this time, his tone was less formal. "Now that you're here, you shall begin to explain exactly what happened in the desert." He said, sounding almost overjoyed as Mikki started to realize how similar the voice in her head was to this man's. With a quick sigh, she started from when Ryze came to tell her that the book was stolen from Lux and that she had a hunch that something like this would happen, asked Ryze to help her retrieve the book, got into a bit of a scuffle with Malzahar over it and then they showed up, omitting the flash she was able to perform.

As she finished her tale, she could hear the man chuckle to himself. "I didn't think it was funny." She mumbled at him as she glanced at him from her little stage, watching him pace to and fro, still snickering. It was getting on her nerves. "If that is all you require from me, I best be off." She said and started to get off the pedestal, but hit an invisible wall. "What?" Placing a hand on it, she realized it was a magical container that she was trapped in as the old man chuckled louder. "What is the meaning of this, Adjudicator?" She demanded of him as he looked up at her, grinning evilly. Not a good sign.

"Did you really think that I would let you off without having you tell me what you did to catch up to Malzahar and Ryze, librarian?" He said as Mikki glared down at the man, then it hit her. The voice was his. He just changed the pitch of his voice so she wouldn't notice it right away. Furious, she wanted to jump down and give him a quick slug to the face, but all she could do was glare angrily at him from the platform. "It seems it finally clicked. Surprised to meet me in person at last?" She bared her teeth at him and snarled at him. "You wretch, how dare you control me like a puppet on a string." She banged against the wall in fury as the man laughed. "You caught the eyes of a man whom I deeply respect and I was just making sure you were in his best interests. Besides, with your magical abilities, you could easily be accepted into the League and fight under the Noxian banner."

So he was watching her since Swain started taking interest in her rune magic. It made sense now as she pulled back from the wall, still glaring down at him. "You're a fellow Noxian, I take it?" She asked him as calm as she could, given the circumstances. He smiled up at her. "Of course, though, you're just a half that decided on working for us as opposed to the other." He knew about that and it made her more furious at this man. Intruding on her thought, her memories, her privacy each time he whispered his voice to her. "You had me use flash to reach them and, not only that, but you had me cast one of my runes to prevent Malzahar from harming Ryze even further. You used me like one of the champions." She stated to him as he nodded to each word.

"That is true. I did take control, but it was to help you understand your potential as a future champion for Noxus." He explained as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You really should thank Swain for unlocking your true power. You've become more… prideful since your priorities have shifted from just the library to Noxus. I also noticed you taking an advantage of the freedom over the weekend. I'm quite happy to see you happy." His words started to sicken her as she slumped down to the ground, sitting cross legged as she continued to listen to the man prattle on about how he loves Noxus and his dreams of making Swain's goals a reality. "And here I thought I was just a pawn." Mikki muttered to herself as the man turned to face her once more.

The Adjudicator grinned again at her. "Oh no, you're no pawn, but a catalyst. You're of the only bloodline that uses the old rune magic that started the Rune Wars in the first place. News of your choice of sides will turn more heads than I care to count. Your pacifism was a roadblock that kept me from bringing you into the League in the first place, but since you finally put yourself as a Noxian, your case will finally be review and judgment will finally be cast." The monolog, she noticed, sounded like something he wanted to happen, a plan he can finally set in motion as she leaned on a hand that was propped up on her knee. "You've told Swain you're doing this, or am I going to have to break the news to him?" She inquired dully at him as she watched him stop pacing again around her.

"Just who do you think I am? Of course I'll tell Jericho myself once I finish up here." He stated angrily at her as she shrugged. "All I know is that you're an Adjudicator that's a Noxian. You never bothered to tell me your name." She replied as he spun around to glare at her. "That smart mouth of your's will get you into trouble outside your precious library, child." He spat. "Does that mean we're done here now?" She prodded as she stood up and dusted off her robe. Wanting to return to her usual duties at the library seemed much more engaging than the man that held her prisoner.

A snap was heard as the floor below her rumbled below her. "Not even close. you're going to see someone who wants nothing more than you destroy you on the Proving Grounds." Without warning, Mikki started levitating off the platform as the light around got brighter then nothing. Next thing she knew, she was standing on a more elaborate platform with a shop keeper in the corner and a Nexus crystal in front of her. "So that's what one looks like up close." She muttered to herself as she over heard a female voice announce a welcome. _"It's quite amazing, isn't it?" _The Adjudicator's voice whispered through her head. Irritated, she looked around as she glanced up at a empty sky above her head. "So what do I do?" She questioned openly as he willed her to pick up a pair of boot and potions from the shopkeeper.

With the announcement that minions have spawned, he lead her out of the base and into the single file lane, lined with bushes on just one side. Following the minions to face the opposing minions from the other side, she watched as they beat up on each other till a thought willed her to attack the weakest minion and watched the small energy burst she cast kill the minion. _"See how simple this is?" _He asked her as she stood and watched more minions die to her last hits. "Yeah, this is great and all, but isn't there something missing?" She asked him as out of the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a couple orbs forming around her as she backed away as a familiar wave of energy past in front of her eyes. "Never mind. I found him." Malzahar floated out of the bushes and did some quick last hitting on her minions as they watched them fall just before a new wave came out to fight.

Malzahar gave a cackle of delight as he looked at her from underneath his cowl. "So good to see you, swill. Looks like I'll get my chance to add your corpse to the Void" He cackled as he casted Malefic Visions on her, causing her writhe in pain as she placed a familiar red rune under Malzahar, watching him stop in place as she moved away from him and slipped behind her minions as the Visions dissipated. "That wasn't pleasant." She muttered, knowing her summoner was listening to her. _"You walked into his range, now just keep last hitting these minions then we make our move." _He told her as she sighed, moving back and forth and sending out her small bolts of energy at the minions as Malzahar does the same.

Last minion fell as she felt herself moved into range and set up another red rune under Malzahar, stunning him again as she set up another run on top of the red one, this time, a yellow one which blinked for a couple seconds before it exploded underneath him, knocking him forward into her as she auto attacked him down. He countered back, using his Call of the Void and set Malefic Visions upon her again, but as she tried to retreat, she noticed a voidling chasing after her as her health started getting low. Downing one of the potions she got, she realized it wasn't enough to counter the Malefic Visions and the voidling as she set down a green rune under her turret and stood on it as it helped alleviate the pain and regenerated her health back along with the potion duration. She watched as the tower shoot down the small voidling and the on coming minion wave as she set down more red and yellow runes to destroy the minions before they caused more damage to the tower.

"_A heal, a stun and a delayed power blast that knocks enemies around. What a useful set so far, but we must press forward to see what you're ultimate ability shall be." _The voice sounded as she pressed forward again the on coming waves to Malz's tower, but not before he returned as he cast Null Zone to keep her from getting closer. "This is taking a while." She muttered as she went back to last hitting minions and staying away from Malzahar's occasional Call of the Void. _"I know you're a patient person, so why rush?" _He inquired as she placed a yellow rune to destroy the last of the caster minions before turning her attention to Malzahar again. Before she got the urge to attack, she was motioned to a heath relic off to the side of the lane as she picked it up, feeling renewed in health and mana.

"_Now, we strike!" _He motioned her back in front of Malzahar as they both pulled off their main rotation, but one of Malzahar's minions fell as Mikki felt a surge of energy well up inside her. _"NOW!" _She placed a lane wide circular white rune onto the ground as she felt much more powerful while standing on it. Malzahar and his minions didn't look good as she realize this was a damage and power boast spell as she now repeated her rotation again on Malzahar, watching him fall to the attack. First blood was announced as she pressed the rest of the lane to destroying the first tower. _"Magnificent! You'll be a wonderful addition, indeed." _He sounded please as she continued to push forward to victory after several more duels later.

Once Malzahar's Nexus was destroyed, she returned back to the plain platform in the small room. The room was lit normally again as she realized she can now walk off the pedestal, wobbly but still standing as she realized the Adjudicator was waiting for her. "How does it feel to know you'll be looked over as a potential new champion of Noxus?" He asked her as she shook her head to clear the memories of the match. "It was painful in every sense and it makes me wonder how everyone else deals with it now." She muttered at him. She wasn't fond of the dying part during the third skirmish after Malzahar respawned and came back to lane and wrecked her cause she was low on health and mana. "You look tired and I'm sure you'll want to get back to your library, but just remember, you'll be called on again in the near future for your judgment hearing once I get approval to have you join the League." He told her as he unlocked the door and lead her out of the building.

She found her teleport rune that glowed faintly on the ground as she stepped on in and a second later was right in the middle of the library. It was late evening as she found Nasus filing away returned books to the shelves. "I'm back, Nasus." She called out to him as he glanced in her direction. "Welcome back. Did everything go well?" He asked her as she shrugged and started helping him put away some of the books. "It took much longer than anticipated." She told him as they finished up around the library. "Thanks again for watching the library for me." Watching him leave, she pulled the front door shut and locked it up for the night and made her way to the kitchen for a quick snack before heading up to her apartment. With what she learned today, she feared something was going to happen and might not be good for Noxus or anyone else if what that Adjudicator was to get his plan underway.

Pulling down her personal journal after a week of leaving alone, she wrote down the week's events in detail up to the point of mentioning that she herself might become a champion soon. Even though the Adjudicator said he would tell Swain his plan, she had a hunch that he most likely wouldn't as she pulled down a piece of paper and started detailing the whole monolog she had to listen to on the sheet. She needed to let Swain know and sent the piece to him through her transport rune. Looking at the time, she decided it would be best if she got some sleep before morning comes again for tomorrow was another day.


	11. Chapter 10: Inevitable Choice

Chapter 10: Inevitable Choice

Five in the morning and the sound of knocking was coming from the front door again. Mikki groaned as she slipped out of bed as she kept listening to the knocking getting louder with impatience as she walked slowly to the front door and peered through the peep hole. Without much thought, she unlocked and opened the door, seeing Swain standing there with Beatrice cawing loudly at while he was holding the letter she sent him barely five hours ago. "We need to talk, again." He growled as he strolled past her in haste as she shut and relocked the front door. As routine dictates, they walked up to the private study on the top floor and shut the door behind them. "Does what I've written to you about bother you?" She inquired as she sat on the bench again and he into the chair across the room.

Swain nodded as he glanced at the contents again then back at Mikki. "Are you sure this Adjudicator is trying to do this?" He asked her as she returned the nod in conformation. "Every detail, straight from the man's mouth." She yawned as she leaned against the wall behind her. "He seemed very serious and from what happened after that monolog of his should prove he's going to try." He shook his head and tossed the paper to the side, watching it flutter down to the ground slowly. "We can't have this. If you were introduced into the League as a new champion, it would ruin what I've worked for and then some." Mikki raised an eye brow, but said nothing as she leaned forward on the bench and propped her head on her hands in front of her, curious as to what he'll do about this.

"We need to talk to the League Counsel about this and let them know this is happening." She suggested lightly after giving him a few moments to think on it. For another moment, she watched as he thought about it, probably going through all calculations and checking for every possible outcome. Swain glanced up at her for as she tilted her head at him, silently asking him if he's made up his mind. "It's a fair tactical decision, though a lot rides on the Counsel believing our claim." He mentioned as Mikki nodded lightly. "That's true." Sighing as she pulled her legs onto the bench and crossed them as she leaned off to the side, using one hand to keep her head propped up.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, it showed fifteen minutes past five as Mikki sighed and stretched out. "We really don't have much time left if we decide on anything." She motioned to the clock as he, too, took a quick glance at the time. "You're right about that much. If he already put in his proposal for your judgment, we might have to make an appeal to have it revoked before your judgment date." He said as he stool up, hold his cane tightly as he started for the door out. Mikki followed him out and down the stair case before he stopped in the middle of the main room of the library. "I'll need you to teleport us there now. It's the best option we have open to us." He told her as she raised her hand, creating a purple rune on the ground around them as they zipped off to their destination.

Standing once again in front of the Institute of War, they walked briskly as the pasts by a couple early morning summoners who back off at the sight of them as they entered the building. Mikki followed Swain closely, seeing as how he would know his way around a little better than she did as they weave down lengthy hallways till they came across a wide hallway leading to a large double door, elaborately decorated with carvings of mountains, buildings and other scenic imagery as they gazed at it for a moment, before turning to face each other. "Hope for the best, expect the worst?" She inquired as Swain nodded in agreement, Beatrice cawed again before settling on Swain's left shoulder.

Swain gave the door a knock with his cane as they waited patiently. A moment later, the double door swung inward beckoning them inside as they slowly moved into the room before them. A large oval table took up most of the room as they noticed several of the counsel were sitting at the far end of the table, facing them as they made their way to the closest end to them. "What business do you have with us, Master Tactician, Noxian Librarian?" The one on the left to them asked. Swain stepped up to the table and placed a single hand on the table top as he addressed the few counsel members that were here. "I'm here to ask that if any requests to have Mikki Halsnight becoming champion be revoked and, if there is no such request put in, that in the event they do come up, it should be turned down." He stated loud and clear and waited for their reactions as the councilmen started to chat amongst themselves about what Swain asked of them.

Mikki fidgeted behind Swain as he continued to wait for their answer as she thought about all the implements have a title given to her meant, since she never had a true title, but the way the counsel addressed her as the 'Noxian Librarian', she almost certainly thought the request was put through to them. Glancing at the counsel at the other end, she noticed that they stopped talking as they now faced them. "For what purpose would revoking Halsnight's request to being a League champion be to you?" The person on the right asked as Mikki stepped forward next to Swain as he answered the councilmen's question. "Because she isn't a champion by any means. She has duties that far exceed fighting on the Fields of Justice for political matches." He started to explain but was halted as a hand was raised by the middle councilmen.

"That's where you're wrong. We were given information that she is a rune caster, last of her bloodline and has all the capabilities of a champion to be initiated into the League roster." The statement made Mikki silently rage inside as she put both of her hands on the table, taking lead. "I would like to know who gave you that information. No one, not even those close to me, would know about my bloodline, except for Swain because he read my family's journals." She glared down the table at the people on the other side as they shook their heads. "We're not allowed to give out such sensitive information about the informant. Though we would like to hear why you're not interested in joining where you could easily help those you work with." With a deep breath, she shook her body lightly, still tired from the early wake up call.

"Because I'm a pacifist. I dislike fighting and though I did a bit earlier last week on Malzahar, he took something that was library property and wanted to destroy it. If that's not enough, I'm the sole librarian and have no employees to help run the library." She told them as they stood in silence once more as the councilmen talked amongst themselves. Swain leaned over and whispered into her ear quietly. "You could have also mentioned that there's a rouge Adjudicator that's trying to use you." He was right, but she felt it's the best piece they had left incase the average reasons weren't enough. A few moments past before the center councilmen spoke again. "I didn't think a rune caster was capable of being a pacifist. But, as you realized, someone did bring you to our attention and we were going have you go through judgment later this week, but, the best we can do is put off the judgment till you feel you're ready." With that, Mikki nodded and bowed lightly. "It would be for the best." She said as she righted herself and turned to Swain.

"That's a sufficient resolution for now." He said as he too paid his respect to the counsel and turned to leave, Mikki following behind as the doors shut behind them once they stepped out into the hallway. "Well, not quite off the hook, but at least I'll be able to join when you want and not when that Adjudicator wants me." She said, exasperated from all the tension in the air before they left the room. Retracing their steps, they walked through the halls in silence. Summoners where starting to roam the halls as well as a couple of them watched as Swain and Mikki walked by as they made their way to the entrance. As they rounded the corner that lead to the entrance, something bumped into Mikki from behind, covering her mouth and pulling her away from Swain. Beatrice cawed as Swain turned to see the hem of Mikki's robe float back around the corner.

Swiftly rounding the corner again, he set a Nevermove down the hall as he saw an older man trying to drag Mikki away, but was stopped short of the spell. The man looked back at Swain in terror as Mikki took advantage of this and slipped out of the man's grip and ran back to Swain. "You have some nerve to try and take what's mine." Swain told the man as he laughed nervously and tried to right himself. Mikki stepped next to Swain and turned to face her would be kidnapper. "You get creepier each time we meet, Adjudicator." She told the man as he started to look furious at her for revealing who he is to Swain. He glanced between the two of them before turning tail and running away from them as fast as he could, bumping into some of the freshly woken summoners along the way. "Kind of wish we could report him for attempted kidnapping." She muttered as she leaned up to pet Beatrice, who happily cawed in thanks.

"So that was the one who called you here yesterday?" Swain asked and Mikki nodded vigorously. "Yes, he was the one." Swain turned around and pushed Mikki ahead of him as he guided her towards the entrance so that no more attempts would be made. Summoners continued to watch in awe as they past them by, some driven by curiosity as to why Swain was guiding someone in front of him as they made their way out of the building into the open morning air. Shivering from the cold breeze that hit her face, she looked up at Swain as they stepped onto the purple rune that still pulsed on the ground where they teleported in.

In just a moment, they were standing back in the library as Mikki shivered again and gave a quick cough to clear her throat. "At least we bought time from the worst case possible, right?" Glancing back up at him, she saw he nodded, lost in thought, she believed, or at least trying to think of something to help with this situation more. He looked down on her and placed a hand on the top of her head. "You're going to hire a few people to help you around the library. Take your time and train them in everything you know so when you have to leave, you're not relying on Nasus or other champions that would be willing to take over your duties here for a day." He told her as she started to protest, but was silenced with a single finger over her lips. "No questions. We only delayed the inevitable from happening too soon." He told her as she sighed and nodded as he removed his hand away from her.

With the clock showing an half an hour to opening time, Mikki started for her apartment, but noticed Swain was following her up. "Was there something else you wanted me to do?" She asked him as he continued past her. "I'm going to stay and make sure you do hire some willing employees to help with the library." He said as he headed to the private study room and closed the door behind him. Sighing, Mikki walked the other way to her room and cleaned herself up before coming back out to open the doors for the day. It was going to be one of those days.


	12. Chapter 11: Deceiver

Chapter 11: Deceiver

Mikki let the patrons in as per usual before quickly retreating back to her room again to make up a sign up list for potential trainees. With a heavy sigh, she walked back down and placed herself behind the Information and Checkout counter and pulled out a dusty old megaphone that was sitting underneath the counter and clicked it on. "Attention all patrons! Can I have you all gather in the main library hall for just a few moments, I have an important announcement to make!" She said through the megaphone as those closest to her looked up at her with curiosity or annoyance and those that walked back in from the kitchen area looked a bit upset at the fact they still haven't had food or drinks yet. With a quick glance around the filled out room, she noticed Swain watching from the top floor along with several other patrons who didn't want to walk back down the stairs.

Clicking the megaphone back on, she continued on. "This past week has been a very busy week for me and I have decided to start taking on those who wish to work here at the library." She announced as chatter grew in excitement. She waited a few moments for the talking to simmer down a bit before continuing with the details. Picking up the list she held it up high above her head as she spoke. "If you wish to work here, this sign up sheet will be here at this counter for you to put down your name for consideration. Sign ups will be only till it's fully filled out and I will wait a couple days before I start interviews so everyone will have a chance at being chosen to help out here at the Grand Noxian Library." Putting down the megaphone, she took her seat at the counter as a wave of people lined up and started signing the paper.

By the afternoon, the sheet was filled both sides with names of people who wanted to help with the library as Mikki closed the sign ups so she would have a couple days to figure out how to set up each interview with each of the hopefuls. She put the sheet into a folder and headed to the west wing kitchen to grab something to snack on as she saw Swain walking the other way from the kitchen. "You know, I should have you help me pick out who to hire since it was your idea." Mikki whispered at him as they stood side by side, facing the opposite direction of each other. A soft chuckle was heard before his reply. "Perhaps, but in the end, it's all up to you who you deem worthy enough to help you here." He countered as they moved away from each other, Beatrice giving a chuckling caw which startled some of the summoners and students around them.

Munching on a muffin, she glanced about the busy kitchen, thinking of things to possibly train her hirelings on. Book shelving system, simple cleaning maintenance for messy eaters, and getting books checked out would be the main things for the most part, but it's something she never really needed help on till recently. With a sigh as she tossed the wrapper into the trash, she briskly walked back to find Swain facing Singed in the main room talking about something she couldn't quite over hear. Looked like Singed needed something important judging by how his hands were moving in front of him as Swain shook his head at him. Mikki tried to get closer to see if she could catch any of the conversation, but not before Beatrice cawed in her direction as Swain and Singed looked at her as she sighed and walked over normally. "Here to finally apologize to me, Singed?" She asked him as he scratched his head for a moment then laughed.

"Not exactly." He muttered as he turned to Swain and bowed slightly. "I best get back to the labs, then." He told Swain as he tried to turn around, but not before Mikki stepped between him and the front door. "Oh, no you don't, Singed. I'm not letting you off that easily." She said as she had a bit of a grin on her face and an idea in her mind. "If you're not going to apologize, then I would like to ask a favor of you." She told him as he tilted his head at her. "What kind of favor are we talking about?" He asked her as she chuckled a bit. "In a couple days, I'll be busy running interviews and I would like you to help out around the library for the day." He seemed a bit confused then shook his head. "I'm not some dog you can ask to watch your precious library, Librarian." He commented as he tried to push past her, only to be blocked again by her.

"It's either that or give me a sincere apology for giving me that champagne when you weren't supposed to." She told him, gazing up at him with narrow eyes. Swain could be heard slightly chuckling during the whole conversation as Singed sighed heavily at her. "You're seriously not going to let me go till I do that?" She nodded at him and crossed her arms over her chest, still looking up at him like she was his boss. After all, he was in her domain now. Singed glanced at Swain, but he just shook his head and waited for what Singed will do next. "You just want me to apologize?" He asked again as she nodded. "A SINCERE apology, just to be clear." She clarified loudly as he continued to glare at her for the hold up.

He threw his large bandaged hands up in the air with mock exasperation. "Alright! I'm sorry about the other night. Happy now?" Mikki thought about it for a moment, then smiled at him. "See? Was that so hard to do?" She was openly enjoying teasing Singed as he moved past her in haste and out the door, leaving Swain and Mikki back in the library. "I haven't seen him this flustered in a long while." Swain commented as Mikki turned to face him. "Think it was a bit much?" He shook his head. "Not at all. It got you what you wanted." It was true, for the most part. Mikki smiled a bit before looking back at Swain. "What were you two talking about before I walked by to see what he was doing here?" She asked him curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"Not something for you to know." He told her as he looked at the clock just above the front door. "I best go for now. Good luck in finding a few new hirelings to help manage the library." He bowed to her slightly before following Singed's footsteps out. Left alone at last, Mikki heaved a heavy sigh of her own as she picked up the folder with the sign up sheet and started to her apartment, looking over the names a couple times on the way up. "How am I going to set this up?" She muttered to herself as she strolled down the hall to the staircase to her room. Many of the names she knew just because they came in on a regular basis, but some were not so familiar. She rolled some ideas through her head as she sat at the writing desk in her room, staring down at the paper.

Hours past as she scribbled names on a new piece of paper and scratching out names of those she wouldn't want to hire due to bad habits she noticed around the library. It was tiresome, but soon she narrowed it down to at least 10 possible people to interview in a couple days. By the time she finished, the time was already nearing the evening hours as Mikki walked back down and took care of everything that needed to be done for the night before sending away the straggling patrons from the rooms and halls. Inhaling deeply, she felt slightly light headed as she locked the front door behind the last person that left. She turned around and was suddenly face to face with someone she would never expect.

Standing tall in her usual regal outfit, LeBlanc stared down at the librarian with curious eyes as she held her staff in her hands. "So you're the new pet. Plain but not overly so." She spoke softly as she looked over Mikki's stunned form from seeing her so suddenly. Leblanc circled the librarian before standing right behind her, continuing her evaluation to herself. "I'm most curious as to how you caught his eyes in the first place. It couldn't be your looks." She was prodding her, trying to get a reaction out of Mikki, but she held her ground knowing the pacifism spell was still in affect around the library. "What are you talking about, Leblanc?" Mikki asked her as the deceiver finished her circle around her. "What am I talking about? I know you know and I plan on getting my answers from you since the source of my curiosity won't tell me a word about it." She told the librarian as she righted herself in front of her again.

Before Mikki could turn around to unlock the front door again, Leblanc placed her staff in the way and turned her back around to face her once more. "I'm not going to leave." She whispered deviously as she pulled Mikki from the door and into a chair near the desks. "You caught me off guard earlier and I wasn't able to get Swain to tell me what's so important about you." She put simply as Mikki tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean earlier? You weren't ….." The thought hit her as she looked up at LeBlanc. "Singed." Was all she muttered as LeBlanc gave her a bit of a strangled smile. "I didn't realize Singed did something so stupid to owe you something so ridiculous. Walking up on us only gave Swain more reason not to talk anymore and I want to know why he's grown so much interest over you in the past month."

Mikki crossed her arms as she stared up at LeBlanc. "It seems he doesn't want you to know just like he didn't want me to know about earlier." She said as calmly as she could. Leblanc gave a small laugh realizing Swain would never divulge information so carelessly. "Of course he wouldn't, but that still doesn't answer my question. Who are you to him?" She pressed her staff against Mikki's throat lightly, just enough to get around the pacifism spell. Mikki stared up at the deceiver as she raised a hand to move the staff away from her. "If he doesn't want you to know, then who am I to tell you when it's obvious he doesn't want to give you the information you seek?" She inquired back at LeBlanc as she stood furious at the librarian. "You test my patience, child. Why do you feel the need to protect what he's keeping between the two of you a secret? It's obvious that he's using you to get what he wants."

Mikki nodded lightly as she stood up off the chair and faced LeBlanc. "I already knew this, but I will follow until he does something that everyone will regret in the end." Was all she said to the deceiver as she looked at the librarian, checking for any hints of a lie that didn't exist. "If you know, then why help him? He will hurt you somehow, regardless on how careful you might be." Mikki shrugged as she moved back towards the front door. "Perhaps so, but as long as I stay by his side, I might be able to learn more about the on goings of Valoran and see the outcome first hand instead of waiting for a newspaper article on the events a day later." LeBlanc seemed stunned at the fact as she walked up in Mikki and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around once more to face her.

"You're turning a blind eye to his string pulling just so you get information on battles first hand?" LeBlanc seemed a bit terrified that Mikki would consider subjugating herself for Swain's amusement to satisfy her thirst for knowledge. Mikki nodded before pulling the deceiver's hand off her should and turning to unlock the door. "You have my reasons and answers. I think you should leave now, it's late and I haven't eaten very much today." She told her as LeBlanc disappeared before Mikki even reached the lock. "Oh, that's right, she does that." With a yawn slowly creeping up on her, Mikki started to the kitchen for a quick nightly snack before retiring to her room.

Despite being up since five, Mikki couldn't quite fall asleep like she wanted as she laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. "I'll get hurt, huh?" She mumbled to herself as she shrugged and stretched out, pulling the blanket over her and rolling to her side. There was always risks when it came to anything to do with political power, wars and everyday life and Mikki knew this which made LeBlanc's claim very sound as to why Swain would help her the way he did. She had magic that's nearly gone, an ancient bloodline that came from the family that started the original Rune War and has access to a whole library full of information that has been gathered over the decades. She thought back to her time in the summoning room during her 'review', that she was a catalyst for something, but what was the question. Sleep started to finally take hold as her eyes sealed shut as she drifted off.

_~Mikki was standing at the edge of a familiar crater as she was once again dressed in a Noxian's mage battle robes and holding tight to a tall walking staff. Glancing around, she realized it was in the Voodoo Lands as she started her sweep of the area to see what was around. In the crater was the two city-state flags of Demancia and Noxus, torn form a devastating explosion as Mikki noticed a single body was under the two poles. She slid down the crater's rocky side as she stumbled her way down into the center to get a better look at who it was, but as she neared, her mind was stricken with pain as a black rune formed under her feet. She fell to the ground next to the body she was trying to see, but before any details could be picked out, it all turned black.~_


	13. Chapter 12: Comfort and Attention

Chapter 12: Comfort and Attention

How she ended up on the floor was beyond her as she woke up from the impact of the fall. Clutching her left shoulder in pain, Mikki groaned as she stared up at the ceiling from the floor, her blankets tangled around her feet and waist which kept her legs slightly suspended off the ground. A thin stream of light was starting to shine through the window as she sat up slowly, feeling the pain shoot through her body pulling another groan as she pulled her legs out of the blanket and pulled herself up using her good arm on the edge of the bed. Unsteady, she sat on her bed, still holding on to her shoulder as she felt it throb in pain. Looking at the time, she realized it was only a couple hours away from opening as she tried to settle herself back into bed, righting the blanket over her with difficulty as she laid flat on her back to relieve some of the pain from her shoulder. Her head, she realized, was also throbbing now that she was laying down again. Gazing blankly at the ceiling, she noticed it was moving even though she wasn't as she closed her eyes to make it stop for the time being.

There was heavy knocking coming from her apartment door as she tried to sit up, still in pain as she glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost noon and the knocking continued as she also heard muffled yelling as well, though she couldn't quite make out what the voices were saying. Mikki groaned as she moved slowly to answer the door, though she felt as if the floor wanted to drop out from under her as she shuffled on. As she got closer, the voices were calling her name and telling her to open the door as she slowly unlocked it and before she could pull it open, the door flung open, hitting her straight in the face as she knelt to the ground in pain. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" It was Lux, looking very worried and very sorry as she tried to pull Mikki back up, but she grabbed her sore arm as Mikki pulled away quickly in panic. "Don't….grab that arm." Mikki said through heavy gasps for air as the room started to spin on her again and collapsed to the ground, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

A warm feeling came over as she heard another voice. "Stars, hear my call." The pain slowly ebbed away as she started to breath a bit slower. Lux grabbed at her right arm this time and pulled her up slowly. "Don't worry, Soraka's here with me today and I'm glad she did come. Did Swain keep you up again last night?" Lux asked her as she weakly shook her head. Looking up, she saw the Starchild smile lightly as Mikki gave her a weak smile of thanks as Lux set her on her bed. "No, I must have had some bad dreams cause I woke up on the floor around six." She told Lux as she rubbed her head and shoulders lightly, feeling the dulling throb that lingered slightly. "I laid down to get more sleep before opening and I guess I over slept instead." Lux took up a space next to her on the bed as Soraka pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of Lux.

"From what Lux has told me about you, you harbor no ill will towards anyone despite being a Noxian. What kind of dream would keep you from sleeping well at night?" Soraka asked her calmly as she set her signature staff next to the bed. Mikki shrugged lightly as she looked at the Starchild. "I don't remember. I forget each dream as I wake up, but I get the feeling of dread each time and I fear it wasn't the first time I saw this dream." Lux had a small pocket handkerchief and was dabbing away at her forehead, looking worried as she was listening. "I guess it gave me cold sweats as well." Mikki commented as Lux finished and put the handkerchief aside. "I guess so, you were covered in it." A small knock was heard again as they looked to the opened door to see Ezreal standing in the doorway, holding a large tray of sandwiches and bowls of soup. "Finally awake, sleepy head?" He asked as he strolled in and set the tray of food on the writing desk.

Mikki couldn't help but laugh weakly as she looked at everyone present in her apartment. "What did I do to deserve the presence of the Lady of Luminosity, the Starchild and the Prodigal Explorer at the same time for lunch?" She asked curiously as they smiled at her. "Cause you didn't wake up to open the library on the day I decide to come check on you and Lux and Soraka were coming over to finish reading that book that got stolen from Malzahar." Ezreal explained as Mikki sighed a bit and leaned back into her bed. "Of course. The one day I over slept, everyone wants my attention." Mikki was giggling as she winced a bit at Lux slugging her in the shoulder lightly. "I meant it in a good way." Sitting back up again, she glanced at the food on the writing table and saw that it was grill cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. "You're not hungry, are you?" Lux teased Mikki as everyone laughed.

Ezreal passed out smaller trays of food to everyone as he sat on the floor with his and start munching away on his sandwich. Mikki started on the soup due to the fact she didn't feel like chewing first, as did Soraka, while Lux dipped the grill cheese into the soup and ate it that way. "I'm sorry if I worried you all." Mikki said as she stared down at her food. Soraka smiled lightly at her. "It's quite alright. In fact, I believe it could have been fated for us to all be here today." She said calmly as Lux nodded. "Yeah! Not only that, but you're the first Noxian to really be nice to everyone." She added as Mikki frowned slightly and looked away. "About that. I've recently learned why I'm like that." They all looked at her as she glanced back at them slowly, feeling compelled to tell them the truth that she herself recently learned about. "I'm only half Noxian. My father was a Demancian noble." She told them as she heard Lux gasp. "You're kidding, right? What Demancian would sleep with a Noxian woman….I mean…." Ezreal drifted off as he glanced at Mikki as she sighed softly.

"My mother charmed my father many years ago, using potions and magic." She replied as Ez blinked at her, Soraka was silent the whole time. "It makes sense now that we think about it. I've always saw the grays in between all the city-states and even made an appeal to let those from out of Noxus to come here and have full access to the library like everyone else." They nodded, remembering when she first announced at the Institute of War that the Grand Noxus Library was to be open to all from around Valoran. "How did you find out?" Lux asked her cautiously as Mikki gave a weak tilt of her head. "From Swain. While I couldn't read the generations worth of journals those before me wrote, anyone else besides me could read them and that's how Swain found out." She continued the stare down at her food as Lux patted her on the back. "It still doesn't matter now. You're you and no one else can change that for you." She said, trying to cheer her up and Ezreal nodded. "That's right, you're still the nicest person in or around Noxus!" He got up and gave her an awkward hug, trying to avoid the food tray on her lap.

Mikki smiled softly as she patted Ez on the back. "Thank you. I'll remember this." They laughed as they started finishing off their lunch as Mikki had them leave the apartment so she could get cleaned up and dressed so she could get going with work. Walking out into the library, many of the patrons came up expressing their worry as most of them were looking forward to working with her as she reassured them that she just overslept and they're worrying over nothing. She gave an announcement that she narrowed the list to ten people as she called the names of the people who made her list seeing them each line up in front of her. After a quick talk with the ten interviewees, they set up when each of them will come in for the main interview for tomorrow. "So you're finally getting some help around the library, huh?" Ez said as he flashed behind her as she was finishing up the schedule for tomorrow. Mikki nodded as she looked back at him. "Yeah, things have been getting a bit out of hand recently and I would like to be able to leave when I need to without worrying so much about what's going on here during open hours." She explained to him as he nodded.

"You've been getting a lot of attention lately and I'm not surprised you're making this move to lessen the stress that seems to be building up on you." Ez whispered to her as he pulled up a spare stool to sit near her. "Whispers have been going around the Institute that you might become a champion. Is this true?" He asked as Mikki nodded weakly. "Yes, but I managed to talk them into holding off my judgment till I feel ready to join." Omitting the fact it was Swain's idea that she just agreed with him. Ezreal gave a sigh of relief as he heard her answer. "That's good, but why would someone want you to join the League though is still beyond me." He said as Mikki turned back around to check out a couple of the students. "I don't know either, but, for now, I'm not becoming a champion anytime soon." Looking around, they found Lux and Soraka reading a familiar book as Mikki smiled lightly. "I'm just glad I can stay here in peace." She said softly as Ez nodded and smiled widely at her. "When you do decide to join, we should see how well we work together."

Mikki chuckled at the thought as her thoughts slowly drifted to what happened a couple night ago. Her face softened lightly as she continued on with her job as the day slowly waned away to the evening hours. Spending some of that time taking notes on Ezreal's newest adventures and a couple stories from Soraka now that she had a chance to see her. Thanking them all for visiting and helping her out when she wasn't up on time and suffering from pain. They bid her farewell as she watched them from the open front door. The light was slowly disappearing as she looked around to see if anyone else was around before closing the door behind her and locked it up for the night. She felt a small tap on her shoulder behind her as she zipped around to face Katarina once more. "Would you not do that?" Mikki exclaimed loudly as Katarina snickered to herself. "I'm an assassin, you expect me to just walk up to doors and knock?" She countered as Mikki sighed heavily.

"Was there something you needed or would like to give me?" Covering all the possible bases as to why she was here again as Katarina pulled out a scroll that was sealed with a wax Noxian symbol. "You called it. Swain's newest request for you." She smiled snidely as Mikki took the letter and unsealed it to read the contents. More attention, she thought to herself as she scanned the letter again. "Alright, I see what he wants and I'll do it this time around." Mikki said as Katarina gave her a quick nod of approval. "Good, cause I don't feel like seeing him again tonight and giving him another demeaning message like last time." She was probably punished last time for not making sure Mikki was willing to go to the social outing last week. "Is this all, or shall I let you out now?" She asked the Noxian assassin as she nodded her head and shunpo-ed away again making her sigh at why she even bothers to ask.

Turning her attention back to the letter, Swain wanted her to join him for dinner tonight at his residence and also that she need not worry on what she's wears because there will be no other guest that'll be joining them. Both good and bad things started to run through her mind at the letter as she rolled it up and walked up to her apartment to at least tidy up herself before setting out to his home. She picked up a black cloak and pulled it around her shoulders and pulled up the hood as she finished locking the library back up before setting out on foot. Using a carriage or teleporting may have been faster, she still wanted time to herself before giving her attention to Swain tonight.

It must have been important for him to want her to see him tonight, she though as she roamed swiftly down the streets of Noxus, taking all the shortcuts she knew of to reach Swain's residence. It wasn't too far in Noxus as she found his home with ease. It wasn't surrounded by other homes or building as she stood in front of the gateway to his estate. The place was a simple two story estate with a single path leading up to the front door before looping around for exiting carriages. Mikki pushed the gate open and followed the path up to the front door and gave it a good knock before stepping back, pulling her hood off as she glanced around the place. A few moments past before the door clicked and was pulled open by Swain with Beatrice sitting on his left shoulder. "Glad you could make it. Come." He beckoned her inside as he closed the door behind her and lead her to a grand dining hall that was make for large gatherings.

The room was lit by candle light as the candle set was place in front of the only two spots were neatly set up, one at the very end and one off to the right both with freshly made dishes in front of them. Swain moved ahead of her and pulled the seat on the right out for her as he motioned for her to take a seat. Mikki sat down in the cushioned chair as she felt him push the chair closer to the table as she sat trapped between the table and arms of the chair as he took his own set at the end and pulled himself up to the table. Whether or not it was the kind gesture for dinner or the fact that Swain was acting like a gentleman was making her checks flush lightly as she gazed between him and the food before them. A sliced ham was placed in the center of them and surrounded by various vegetables, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce all around it. She sat in awe at the small banquet as she wondered if he cooked all this himself, but was too shy to ask.

"Go ahead and help yourself to what you'd like." He said as he motioned to the food. Mikki nodded and picked up a fork and knife to take one of the slices of ham and placed it onto the empty serving plate in front of her before she started cutting away at the slice to make small pieces to eat. Swain followed suit as Mikki took her first bit of the tender pork chunk. It made her mouth water as the right amount of fat and meat melted in her mouth and required little chewing as she swallowed it happily. "It tastes wonderful." She commented with enthusiasm as she took her next bite happily. A smirk played across Swain's face at the comment as he quietly ate at his own share. They ate in silence for ten minutes when they reached the limits of what they could eat.

Placing down his utensils, he turned to face Mikki who was finishing the last bite of ham. "I'm sure you've heard that people are starting to take notice of your current state as a considered champion." He said as she looked at him and nodded lightly, swallowing the ham before speaking. "I heard from Ezreal earlier when he came to visit the library." She told him as she pushed the empty plate away from her. He nodded to himself before scooting his chair back and standing up to walk over to her and pulled her chair out from under the table so that she, too, may get up. "We'll continue our chat as we walk." He told her as she got up and followed him around down a hallway. "You think someone who knew about his intentionally let slip that I was to be a champion to those at the Institute?" She asked him quietly, almost expecting someone else to be around as she spoke though she saw no one else in the estate. "It's the only logical reason as to why these rumors are being spread around." He commented as he continued to follow him closely through the hall and up a stair case to the second floor.

Mikki started to become a bit concerned about where they were going, seeing as how this was the first time she visited his home. "Swain, where are you leading me to?" She asked him, looking a bit worried as he glanced back at her with his red eyes. "You'll know soon enough." He replied as they walked down the opposite direction in another lengthy hallway. She noticed he had various painting on the wall, but none she could name off the bat as they walked past many doors till they reach the end of the hallway. It was the last door he opened as he stepped aside to let her walk in and closed it behind her. The room was filled with bookshelves along each wall and a writing desk between a pair of the shelves and a bed that covered another section that wasn't used for a bookshelf space. It was his personal room, she realized as he moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and setting his head on her shoulder as Beatrice flew off and landed on a stand that was meant for her.

Mikki started to shudder as he held her close to him. "S-swain! What are you…?" Her sentence fell of as he moved her forward to the bed, spinning her around and letting the back of her knees bump into the bed and fall backwards onto the firm bed beneath her. He was now leaning over her as she looked up at him, scared of what he might do next as he ran a hand across her check. "Don't be so afraid of being touch." He whispered to her as he leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her lips. Her hands gripped the edge of the bed as she realized what he was doing, reminding her of who gave her the freedom to move outside the library. His hands started to glide down her body to her sides as she wiggled under him as he held the kiss. She was trapped and helpless as she shivered under him, moaning lightly through the kiss.

He gently moved his hands to her hips and lifted the rest of her onto the bed as she moved to settle herself more comfortably as he moved himself above her. With a swift motion, Swain moved her hands above her head and kept them pinned under one of his own as he leaned over and started nibbling at the rim of her ear, causing her to whine and wiggle uncontrollably. "Swain, please!" She gasped at him as he continued to assault her ear and neck with his slightly sharpened teeth. She felt her skin flush as he hit an nerve, pulling a moan from her mouth as he smirked against her skin and nipped again in the same spot, pulling the same reaction from her. LeBlanc's words started to fill her head as he continued to work his way down to her collarbone, pushing away her robe to reach it better. _'He will hurt you' _she told her and here she was, being used for his own purpose.

The feeling was overwhelming as he teased her skin with his teeth, tears started to form and flow freely down her face as she continued to weakly struggle against him but to no avail. Moaning his name only spurred him on as he switched from nibbling her collarbone to going back to roughly kissing her. Everything became hazy as she felt his tongue slip into her mouth as she closed her eyes and let him, falling prey to his advances. She wanted to give in and let him finish it, but she knew he wouldn't end it so quickly. When he release their kiss, she was already panting heavily, face fully flushed with heat generated from his touch. He release her hands and moved to wipe at the tears that slid down her face with his thumb. Before he could say a word, they both heard a sound behind them at the foot of the bed as he turned to get a better look.

Mikki only tilted her head to see around him and found LeBlanc standing there, looking furious at Swain as he glared at her. "I thought so. She really is such an important pet to you, Jericho. Why try and keep it hidden from me?" LeBlanc asked him as he slid off the bed and composed himself as he walked up to her and backhanded her. "How dare you come into my estate without permission, LeBlanc." He growled at her as she glared back at Swain. "Did your pet not tell you I paid her a visit last night?" She countered snidely as she gave Mikki a quick glance of disgust before turning her eye back to Swain. He glanced at Mikki, who sat up and watched in horror as they both spoke to each other so venomously to each other, then back to Leblanc. "So you did try and get answers from her. How predicable." He sneered as LeBlanc moved to the other side of the bed, putting Mikki between them. "Yes, but the little child wouldn't say a word about what's….between you two." She put delicately as she reached over to Mikki and grabbed hold of her sore arm. "So I'm going to take her home and we'll talk about this when I get back." She told him. Swain tried to move to stop her, but they both disappeared from the room.

Then next thing Mikki remembered was that she was standing in front of her home, outside of the library. She turned to find where LeBlanc was, but realize she must have returned straight to Swain for that talk she wanted from him. With a sigh of relief, she unlocked the door and entered her safety shelter, her home and walked up to her apartment, getting dressed into her night gown and slipped into bed. She still couldn't believe how close he got to her for a second time and if it wasn't for LeBlanc, he probably would have gone even further than that. With a shudder, she pulled the blankets close to her and curled up tight, wanting to forget the evening's events and sleep. Hopefully, she won't fall off like last time.


	14. Chapter 13: Formality

Chapter 13: Formality

Putting any unwanted thoughts from mind, Mikki woke bright and early to prepare for the interviews for her future employees. Ten chosen interviewees, only three get the privilege to work for the library. While the library opened at eight, the students and summoners that have interviews today also wanted to be early, even though the first interview didn't start till ten. She saw the competitiveness in each of their faces as they looked at each other from across the rooms and halls creating tension for those around them that weren't interested or didn't make the initial list. They were not going to make the choice very easy for her as the urge to put dividers between them all was slowly rising with the tension. The students wanted to get the job to start working on getting job experience for future careers and the summoners wanted something to do during their downtime between League matches, making the choosing harder on her.

With ten o'clock quickly approaching, she set up a private study room as a interview room for the day as she held the list to read off and write down the scores of how well she thought the interview went with the person. Each interview was to be thirty minutes long each with a fifteen minute break in between so she could add personal notes and grab a drink or food if she needed. Glancing at the time, Mikki decided it would be best to grab a quick bite before getting down to business. Fixing up a bagel with cream cheese and a glass of milk, she thought about last minute questions she should ask each of them to see how well they would be able to stay true to her rules and values in the library. Ten minutes till was when the first person approached her, asking her how she was doing and if she was looking forward to doing all the interviews. "Of course, I look forward to speaking to all of you. Now, please wait till ten, I still need to set up."

She picked up her megaphone and headed to the interview room with a couple minutes to spare as she set up everything to keep each interview private to only her and the person she's talking to. With the megaphone, she called the first person and lead the male summoner into the room and proceed to ask him questions that retain to why he would want to work here at the library. "Because it's always so busy here and I always wanted to help out, but I was never sure if you'd like that or not. Not only that, but the champions seem to like you a whole lot and it would be great to get to know them as you do!" He told her happily as he sat a good head taller than her in his traditional purple summoner's robes. He kept his attitude very upbeat and was very open with her about how he would treat champions with the up most respect, regardless of where they came from. With the thirty minutes up, she dismissed him and wrote down her score that her earned and noticed that the next nine are going to have a very high bar to reach to surpass the first interviewee.

The second interview was the exact opposite of the first. Never was really sure on what he wanted to do and had more selectiveness in which champions he's respect more than others. With another thirty minutes up, she called the third interviewee, a female summoner, who, like the first, was much more into being able to help out and be able to know the champions the way she does. The next two flew by like the second interviewee, despite the fact both were girls with very closed minded ideas and selective respect for certain champions over others. The sixth performed wonderfully as she described all that she would be more than willing to do and even help improve upon some of the set ups throughout the library. The rest of the interviews past more or less average or just not as interested as they thought as Mikki spent the next twenty minutes rereading all her notes and scores before having all the interviewees meet her in the private study so that she may announce who got the honor of working with her.

"I want to thank you all for taking time out of your busy day to show up on time for each of your interviews. Now that I've spoken to each of you personally and got to know you each a little better, I've made my decision on the three lucky people that will be starting tomorrow morning." She told them as some of them were on the edge of their seats while others seemed to know that they didn't make it and just slouched in their chairs unprofessionally. "Jean Tessle." The first interviewee stood up and made his bow to her as she said his name. "Rosaley Ballot." The first female interviewee stood up and took her own bow, smiling happily. "And Saline Falls." The second female interviewee stood and took her bow with grace. Mikki smile at the three of them as she heard sighs from the rest of the group. "I understand that while the rest of you tried your best with me, perhaps in the future, I'll need more assistance and hire more of you on a later date." She told the rest of them as they nodded and left the private room. The three that made it stood in front of her awaiting her orders.

"Now that we have this all settled, I would like each of you to come in the morning thirty minutes before eight so that I may explain how things work around her before you all start." They each nodded happily as they took their leave as well, leaving Mikki alone for a while as she slumped into the chair she had been sitting in the whole day. Since becoming the head librarian, she had changed a lot of the old rules, broke traditional standards and created new ones. The first was making the library public to everyone, Noxian or not, champions or summoners, anyone who wanted to learn and read and now, actually hiring employees so that she may have more time to herself when she needed it. The thought of it seemed odd, but somehow, it all fit into place in it's own way.

The evening was slowly coming as she roamed the library warning all stragglers before she locked up for the night. An odd sensation filled her as she locked the door as she turned around in paranoia, but found no one standing behind her. The late night visitations were getting to her and it wasn't making her happy about it as she strolled up to her apartment to clean up for the night. Mixed feelings rolled through her mind about all the event thus far as she slid into the warm water in the tub, letting her body soak and relax from the tension that built up. Last night came up in her thoughts as she sighed heavily. While she enjoyed the dinner Swain treated her to, but what he tried afterwards left her a bit…scared. She knew he wanted her as a reserve mage in the background, but, with the rumors floating about, it'll soon no longer be a secret. Something else tugged at the back of her mind as she thought of other reasons why he would pursue her in such a way, even though she would do as she was told without the unwanted advances.

With LeBlanc's appearance at his home, it saved her from Swain this time, but it also begged the question on what LeBlanc was still to him. She knew very little of each of them, except the common knowledge that everyone else knew. Were they former lovers perhaps, she wondered as she got out of the bath and dried herself off, putting on a slightly different night gown than her usual. It was black and hung down to her knees as the thin straps looped over her shoulders gently, letting it flow freely as she walked over to bed. It was clean and that's all the mattered to her as she put the thoughts out of her mind again and slowly drifted of to sleep. A tapping was hear coming from her window just before fully falling asleep as she cracked an eye towards her window. Beatrice was tapping at her window which startled her as she flung her blanket off her and moved to the window. "What are you doing here without your master?" She questioned the bird as Beatrice cawed and pointed her beak down towards the front door.

Swain was looking up at her as she stood by her window as she noticed he motioned for the front door, which was locked. Mikki was both shocked and furious with his arrival as she stormed from her room in haste and made her way down to the front door and unlocked it, flinging the door aside so she could face him. "This isn't a good time." She told him, openly glaring at him in the process. He looked down at her as Beatrice returned to his left shoulder. "I know." Was all he said to her, making her even more irritated. "If you're not going to leave then tell me why you tried to have your way with me last night?" She demanded of him, not bothering to let him step a foot into her sanctuary. He simply glanced down at her, locking his eyes with her's. "Did you forget what I promised to you?" He asked as she pulled back at the question. She thought for a moment of all the recent meeting with him, reviewing each conversation with him till she found her answer, causing her to pail at the thought.

Mikki shook her head and pulled back slightly from him. "I know what you promised, but I'm not ready for such responsibility, Swain." The pieces were slowly coming together in her mind as she continued to have this staring contest with him. "Wait, there's more to this than a simple promise." She muttered as Swain held his ground in front of her. "Did LeBlanc figure out what you were truly trying to do with me?" She questioned him as he gave her a very small sigh. "You were always so perceptive on things once you gathered the information you sought." He complemented her as he stepped up to her, forcing her back further into the doorway. "Indeed, she did find out and was regrettably upset at the affair." He continued as he took yet another step to her. "If you were to conceive a child, you would be put off being considered a champion." He told her as she shook her head violently at him. "No! I will not have a child till I feel I'm ready for it, despite what the consequence will be!" She yelled at him, angered by the audacity of what he suggested to her.

Swain seemed disheartened as he stood just a foot away from her, though the feeling of anger started to stir around them as they faced each other. "Leave me be. I have important things to get done tomorrow and I need my sleep." She told him sternly as he looked down on her small form. "That's right, you did your interviews today." He replied as she nodded at him. "I'll go for now. Just keep in mind what I've told you and I'll send for you on a later date." He said to her as calmly as he could as he turned away from her and strolled back to his awaiting carriage and left her standing weakly in the doorway. She really needed to get some rest if she was to survive through tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 14: Suggestion

Chapter 14: Suggestion

Not a day went by that Mikki didn't worry about when that letter would come as she spent the rest of the week training her new employees. It was a bit of a rocky start as she tried to show them where everything goes and how the check out process works. Since they wore their typical summoner's robes, most people didn't realize they were working for her so she had to ask them what they thought on new uniform robes so that they may stand out to other patrons. "It makes sense, I mean, since you wear an elaborate robe with the library symbol on it, people know you're the head librarian" Saline said calmly, her blond hair falling over her left eye slightly, covering a bit of her glasses that hung down the tip of her nose as she glanced at Mikki over the rim. "Yeah, maybe we could choice a color that would befit each of us and have the library's symbol embroidered on the back of the robes to show that we work here!" Rosaley piped up as she smiled widely. Her personality was only reflected by the bright red hair that hung freely down over her shoulders as they looked to Jean to see if he had any ideas. "The robes would take a while to make so I propose that we use nametags for the time being till we get our robes made up." He commented as he ran his hand through his slightly shaggy golden brown hair.

Mikki smiled lightly as she nodded. "We can do that. We can make up nametags today while I put in a form to have each of your robes made up by next week at best. Now, what color do each of you want your robes to be?" If tradition was going to be broken further, might as well do it with flare. "I pick red!" Rosaley was bouncing up and down excitedly, seeing as the idea was her's in the first place. "I'll go blue." Saline picked wisely, blue being a popular favorite for calm people. "I'll go yellow, then, just to cover all the primary colors." Jean sighed as he looked at his fellow coworkers who picked his favorite colors faster than he could speak up for. With a small chuckle, Mikki wrote down the colors and measurements each of them gave her so that she could send the order form quickly as she watched them write their names onto a pin on blank nametag that they can use till the robes arrive.

Each of them had their strengths and weaknesses as Mikki watched each of them closely to monitor how well they were handling their new jobs. Jean's tallness made him very reliable for reaching the top shelf books for many of the shorter patrons as he didn't require a stepping stool most of the time. Rosaley was very quick for the check out lines, though she missed a few books early on, but soon reached the point she didn't miss a beat with each book getting it's time stamp. Saline was the most informative of the bunch as most of the students and summoners would ask her where anything was located and she knew right where everything was. Proud of her choice in employees, Mikki spent a good amount of time just cleaning around while they worked, though she still got the occasional person that trusted her a bit more to get the job done.

The week soon ended without much warning as Mikki realized how little contact she's had from any of the regular champions that often visit during certain times of the week. Nasus showed up for a while and was happy to hear she decided to hire some employees to help out around the library and met them, making Jean one happy guy seeing as how he favored Nasus for a lot of solo top games. But other than that, it's been quiet to her. No letters, no middle of the night visits, no anything and it was making her paranoid once everyone was gone. She sat quietly in the window looking out at Noxus as she saw the light flicker as the night covered the city and, with an occasional glance, she would look down at the front door, checking to see if anyone was there. Sighing heavily, she moved to go to sleep at last, but as she stood up, she found LeBlanc standing in the middle of her apartment watching her closely. "What do you want, LeBlanc?" She asked the deceiver as she just smirked at the librarian.

"Is it wrong for me to be concerned about Jericho's pet?" She remarked snidely as she strolled up to her, letting her staff tab the ground lightly with each step. "You don't look so well and I'm sure he won't like to hear that you've been under the weather lately." She continued to comment as Mikki ignored her and walked over to her bed and sat on the edge. "So you've been watching me this whole week then?" She tried asking her, seeing LeBlanc shrug cutely at her. "Whether or not I have is not your concern, but I do have some advice for you, if you're interested." The smile on LeBlanc's face screamed trap to Mikki as she shook her head. "I'm not, now leave me be." She told her as she moved to slip under the blankets, but not before she realized the blanket was pulled off the bed by LeBlanc's staff. "I'm not done talking to you." She tossed the blanket as far as the other side of the room as she stepped up to Mikki, placing the tip of her staff under her chin to make sure she was looking at her. "I'm sure you realized what he has planned for you, but I do not approve of anyone but myself getting close to him in such a matter." She was threatening her but with the library's pacifism spell, she could do no more than that to her.

LeBlanc was jealous and she knew it. Mikki was still being forced to look at LeBlanc as she sighed at her. "You realize I'm no more happy about it as you are. If you have a problem, you'll have to take it up with him cause I can't control what he does when he gets a hold of me." She told LeBlanc honestly as she pulled away from the staff as she felt it slacken under her chin. "You don't think I've tried, librarian? What do you think I was trying to talk to him about the night I pulled you away from him?" She said, almost on the verge of yelling as she heaved a heavier sigh. "I just want you to stay away from him until he realizes you don't want him. Go on a trip somewhere and not tell anybody where you went till you return, just stay away from Jericho!" She was upset and Mikki could only vaguely understand the frustration she was feeling. "I don't know about taking a trip, but if you're saying I should just stay here where I still have some sway over him, I'll try, but no guarantees that I could hold him off for long." She told the deceiver as she looked her over warily. "As long as you understand where you are in this situation, I'll take it for now." LeBlanc said as she recomposed herself. "But if I hear anything pertaining to you both together, mark my words, librarian, I'll make you regret everything." With that statement, LeBlanc disappeared from the apartment, leaving Mikki to pick up the blanket herself before she could finally settle in for the night.

The next morning brought some good news as a package with her employee's work robes came in as she set the box on the Information and Checkout counter as she awaited for them to show up on time. Jean was the first to arrive as she handed him his robe and waited for him to get changed into it as Rosaley and Saline arrived together and also receiving their robes. Jean came out in his golden yellow robe with the library's symbol embroidered on the back and a smaller version on the upper left side of the chest, the collar and hems of the sleeves lined with purple thread to balance out the yellow. "It's almost a reverse version of the summoner's robes." He commented as he walked back up to the counter and noticed the other robes missing. "Guess they just arrived, huh?" He muttered as Mikki noticed a light smirk on his face. Rosaley was the next to come out in her new robe as the maroon red was outlined with blue thread as she smiled happily and was closely followed by Saline with her royal blue robes lined with silver thread.

"You all look very professional now that you each have your robes now." Mikki told them as they nodded happily. "Now, do they fit alright or is everything good?" She asked them as she watched them shake their heads at her. "Nope! All good." Rosaley said happily as she did a quick spin around to show off a bit. "It's as comfortable as the summoner's robes." Saline said softly as she kept looking at the stitching on the hems of her sleeves, admiring the handy work. Mikki smiled as she moved to let the public in and watched as many of the regulars asked about the new robes and gave kudos to each of them making such a fuss over how nice the robes looked on each of them personally. She felt a tap on her shoulder as she turned her head to see Ezreal standing behind her. "Morning! I see your new assistants are getting a lot of attention today." He said to her as she chuckled a bit. "They are and I bet they're loving it." She said to him as he walked next to her. "Figured I'd see what they were like and I give you credit for letting them get unique outfits. Classy."

Mikki covered her mouth light as she kept chuckling softly. "Yes, well, it was really their idea for different color robes and I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have a chat with you as well." She smirked lightly as he walked up to each of them in turn, watching them almost fawn over him and Saline almost passed out from embarrassment from talking to him in person. Mikki did the first round of checkouts as Ezreal got to know her assistants better. "Ez, I think I would like to see them work today, if that's alright with you." She told him as he rubbed the back of his head in mock embarrassment. "Oh, alright, but it was nice meeting all of you. I'll see you around." He said to the three of them as they watched him give Mikki a quick hug and walked out the front door. "Does he like you a lot?" Rosaley asked curiously as Mikki shrugged. "We're just friends, nothing too scandalous to talk about." She told her as she pouted at Mikki, hoping there was something more to it. "You're no fun sometimes."

She watched as the three of them started off in their own areas, reorganizing misplaced books and putting back others from last night's returns. Thanks to the new robes, they were earning more of their keep as more patrons asked them questions on the usual matters as Mikki was able to just sit by and monitor the lot, letting them take breaks as she would take over for a while to stay in the groove herself. Things ran smoothly through the morning as the hype of the new outfits dissipated, leaving them a bit exhausted from all the attention. She let them have an hour break for lunch to let them recover as she stayed at the main counter to take care of everyone else. Of course everyone else ended up being Swain, looking down at her as she looked up at him from doing some quick note taking for later. "I would like to speak with you in private, if you would do me that favor." He meant it as a question, but she knew it wasn't as she sighed at him. "Can't this wait till my assistants come back from break?" She asked him as she gave him a slight upset frown as he shook his head. "It cannot. I need to speak to you immediately." He told her as Rosaley was walking up on them from the direction of the kitchen.

"Mikki, can we head back to the Institute for a quick round since we have an hour to spend?" She asked her employer. Mikki looked at her and smile lightly. "Of course as long as you all come back on time." She told her as she noticed she was looking at Swain with a worried look. "O-okay, thank you very much!" She said quickly before quickly walking away from them. Mikki gave Swain a quick glare before getting up from her seat. "I hope you're happy about scaring one of my employees." She sighed heavily as she walked out from behind the counter and beckoned Swain to follow her this time around as they made the walk all the way up to her apartment and closed the door behind them. "All right, you have my undivided attention." She told him as he looked at her after taking a quick look around her room. "LeBlanc has been visiting you, hasn't she?" He questioned her off the bat as Mikki sighed and nodded, no use trying to lie at this point. "Just last night. She's quite upset over this, you realize." She told him as he rasped his cane on the ground causing Mikki to jump slightly. "She needs to learn to mind her own business and you need to stop letting her get her answers from you." Yet more anger as he paced about the apartment as if he owned it. "What did she tell you?" He asked her as calmly as he could as Mikki took a deep breath before sitting in her chair by the writing desk.

"She wants me to stay away from you." She put as simple as possible as she watched Swain continue to pace around. "Does she now? Anything else I should be made aware of?" He questioned further as he stopped his pacing and faced her. "Just that I should take a trip without telling anyone so I could keep away from you and you should know that she has threatened me about us being together." Mikki continued to gaze up at him as he stood in thought in front of her. "This really isn't the best time to be discussing this. I have a library to run, Swain." She pressed urgently onto him as he gave her a half glance. "Alright, but I want you to just send her away next time she visits. I don't want her poking around where I don't want her to." He said as he made his way to the doorway, Mikki following him out and down the stair case as they reached the entrance of the library. They got a lot of stares as they walked out the front door for a moment. "Just try and keep it to yourself and tell the Deceiver that you won't tell her a thing next time she shows." He reminded her as he walked down the street towards Noxus, watching as Beatrice landed on his left shoulder from where she was perched.

"Now that is something scandalous." Rosaley whispered behind her, making Mikki jump on the spot. "I thought you and the others were going to do a round of summoning?" She asked as she noticed the other two behind Rosaley, both grinning as well. "Well, we were, then we saw that he wanted to talk to you privately and that was more interesting to see how that turned out." Saline explained as Jean nodded. "Who knew the great master tactician had a thing for our librarian?" He added as Mikki glared at the lot of them. "It's not like that. It's just business. You should know he doesn't like people knowing what they shouldn't." She told them as they laughed and scuttled away back to the kitchen. She only hoped that was enough to deter them from thinking anything was really up as she sighed and posted herself back at the checkout counter and resumed her duties. "Children. Such a handful."


	16. Chapter 15: Prison Retreat

Chapter 15: Prison Retreat

While there have been no more visitations from LeBlanc, Swain's presence has been more than enough to keep Mikki on edge each time she saw him roaming around her library during various times of the day though the week. Her employees seem to think Swain likes her, but she knew much better than that. He was making sure LeBlanc didn't show up during open hours and Mikki was becoming quite upset over his persistence. LeBlanc's suggestion was starting to become more tempting each day as she tried each day to make him leave the library, but to no avail as he insisted he was just here to read like everyone else. At the end of each day, he would leave like everyone else without saying a word to her which left a sour taste in her mouth as she figured this was his way of not drawing attention to himself. Another day done, another night to think on what she needs to do.

She thought of many places to hide for a week easily, but the question is where to hide where people won't try and discriminate against her for being a Noxian? Demancia, Piltover, Ionia, and Bandle City each would pick her out with her traditional garb and possibly either see to her getting kicked out of city limits or worse, killed. Zaun was too closely tied to Noxus to be a good place to go either, but she would at least be left in peace for a while if she did. Other less populated areas weren't a good idea do to the fact she didn't want to camp out alone in the wilds. So many choices and yet, only one really appealed to her, Ionia. She recently read that Sona was going to perform at the Serene Garden this weekend and she was eager to hear her in person as opposed to reading about how beautiful it was. Not only this, but she was drawn to how it would be much more peaceful as opposed to the major city life elsewhere, though, when to leave was the question.

Looking through her closet, she realized how little variation in color and styles she had for each outfit and cursed herself for not getting more casual clothes for travel, not that she would have done much of that before everything started falling apart. She had a plan and it would seem a bit long winded but it would be worth getting away from it all for the weekend. She headed down to the map room in the library and pulled out a familiar small travel map and looked it over carefully. Heading to Zaun would let those who are familiar with her know she was out of the library, but from there, she would need to book a ship to Ionia from Piltover, forcing a quick teleport from Zaun to the Piltover docks would be simple enough and would throw off anyone who wanted to follow her around. The trip by boat would take roughly two days at least till she would be able to wander around Ionia and see Sona's performance at the Garden. With a satisfied nod, Mikki rolled up the map and placed it into it's carrier tube and brought it up to her apartment where she started packing up for the trip.

Packing didn't take very long and allowed Mikki to take a quick nap before setting off just before the dawn. She left a note on the library counter for her employees saying she was going to take the rest of the week off and to keep the library running without her. She set out to the street with her small carrier bag and followed it only a short ways in the direction to Zaun before stopping suddenly. A small echo of a knife being drawn caught her attention as she looked ahead and saw a figure standing just off to the side of the lamppost, keeping hidden in the shadows around the light. As the figure started to move, Mikki ducked into a side alley and started running down it and turned to the next street leading to Zaun only to trip as she passed by someone she didn't see. "What's your hurry, librarian?" Looking up at the person, she realized it was Katarina, smirking devilishly as she looked down on the librarian. "It's not your concern." She told her as she stood up and dusted herself off of the dust that gathered on her robes.

A knife was pressed lightly against Mikki's throat as the first person stepped behind her without being noticed. "It would be best to go back to your library and stay there." Katarina said softly as she moved to grab at the small bag that held her personal belongings. "Why do you care if I'm making a business trip to Zaun, Katarina?" She asked her as she glanced slowly at the person that's behind her but stopped as the feeling of the blade started to press more against the skin. Kat only gave her a light chuckle as she motioned for the person behind her to guide her back to the library. "You can go some other time, but right now, as things stand, you're not allowed to leave Noxus without his permission." She whispered as she felt her back being pushed back down the alley she came down from.

Mikki glanced forward and watched as Katarina held her bag loosely by her side as she strolled ahead of her and the knife wielder before willing a red rune under her captor, leaving him stunned, and made a dash at her bag only to miss as Kat sidestepped away from her. Mikki faced her and grinned lightly as a yellow started to flash behind Katarina. She looked at the rune, perplexed then noticed it started flashing faster and started to move, but it knocked her forward as her grip on the bag was lost as Mikki picked it up and quickly dashed back out of the alleyway and started towards the docks this time. "Talon, don't let her get away!" Katarina yelled as she heard a pair of footsteps gaining on her as she realized Talon was no longer stunned and was quickly going to catch her again if she didn't do something quick. She tired to place another red rune under him, but he moved around it and disappeared, reappearing behind her again as he pressed his knife back to her neck. "You're being difficult, but your struggles are useless to us." He said quietly as he gave her neck a small cut to remind her that she couldn't outrun him.

Mikki held still as he kept his hold on her arm and knife pressed tightly to her neck as Katarina reached them. "Well, now, I didn't expect you to get aggressive, but, now it's time for you to return home." She told Mikki, but then noticed a purple rune starting to form under Mikki's feet. "Talon! Back off, it might explode!" He noticed it as well and released her as Mikki gave them a quick chuckle and waved before disappearing from the street. They were both stunned that they fell for the rune and cursed as they spread out to look for where she might have ported off to.

Water was everywhere as Mikki finished porting in the direction of Ionia as she realized she was being tossed around by the waves moving towards a distance shore as she moved her arms and paddled towards the land. It was cold and was sapping what energy she had as she started to sink down further as she struggled to hold herself. The extra weight her clothes and bag took on from the water made it extremely difficult as she felt like passing out as she could clearly see the shore ahead of her, the sun already breaking the horizon. The salt in the water made the cut on her throat sting which kept her slightly aware of how much closer she has gotten as she started to feel ground under her feet, the waves now pushing her up to the beach in front of her as she staggered up into a crawl and pulled herself from the breaking water and collapsed onto the white sand beneath her, breathing heavily as her whole body ache with pain. The last of her energy started to leave her as she heard footsteps coming towards her before she passed out from the exhaustion and cold.

Voices were talking but couldn't make out what was said as she felt herself being carried unceremoniously over someone's shoulder to somewhere as she swayed with the person holding her up. The motion was making her sick as well as the cold that was starting to set in. She started to cough heavily, making her sides and throat hurt from the salt water being up heaved before passing out again.

It was dark as she started to regain conscience again, only this time, Mikki was laying flat on her back and was heavily covered in very heavy blankets, her head slightly propped up on a firm pillow. The warmth from the blankets eased the stiffness though out her body, but only just as she coughed again and felt her sides clench in pain from the movement. The cough must have alerted someone as she heard movement, not far off to her left as she tilted her head slightly in the direction and slowly opened her eyes. Bars was the first thing she noticed as she stared blankly around them and saw that she was being watched by someone from the other side of them. "Finally awake, Noxian scum?" The person asked as Mikki's vision slowly focused on the person and saw Irelia watching her closely with distrust, her infamous blades whirling around her slowly. With much difficulty, Mikki sat up and clutched at her sides as they ached and looked around seeing that she was in a prison cell.

Defiantly made it to Ionia, she thought to herself as she refocused her gaze to Irelia. "For the most part." She replied to the warrior before her as she glanced down at herself and noticed she was wearing plain faded gray clothes and felt something wrapped around her neck as she lightly touched at the bandage that sealed the cut from Talon. "Shocked to be alive still?" Irelia inquired with spite as she leaned against the bars, watching her prisoner with lethal eyes. Mikki nodded and coughed again, her throat was dry and need a drink of water as she took another glance around the small cell and spotted a table with a glass of water and reached for it weakly and slowly sipped away at the cool liquid. "You should be grateful that we got you out of your wet robes and kept you warm so you wouldn't die to hyperthermia." She spat as Mikki lowered the glass to her lap and nodded again. "I am grateful for that. I truly am." Mikki said softly as she gazed at Irelia with equally grateful eyes.

Irelia spun around and put her back to Mikki in obvious disgust. "Why are you being so polite when you're obviously being held captive?" She questioned the librarian as Mikki chuckled lightly before turning it into a coughing fit. A blade zinged in front of Mikki as she glanced at her captor. "Don't think I'll miss next time, wretch." Mikki glanced at the red blade that was buried into the wall next to her as she watched it pull itself out and return back to Irelia's side. Mikki grimaced slightly as she sighed heavily. "It's a long story." She told the blade wielder as she sipped at the water again. "Then let us start from the beginning then. Why were you out in the Guardian's Sea and waterlogged on our shore, Noxian?" The blades began to move around a bit more in agitation in response to Irelia's question. Mikki cleared her throat and inhaled slowly before explaining. "I wanted to get away from Noxus for a while, but a certain someone didn't want me to leave the city and I had to make haste of my teleport spell to get here, putting me out in the sea just a ways off from shore." She told her softly as she glanced down at the half empty glass in front of her.

Irelia laughed as she listened to Mikki's answer. "Out of the pan and into the fire you went, didn't you? What made you think coming here would be good choice for you to visit?" Mikki shrugged and leaned her shoulder against the wall. "I just wanted to see Sona perform at the Serene Gardens this weekend and get away from working at the library for a while." She muttered as she set her head against the wall as well, let her face fall into a slightly saddened state. Irelia laughed at what she said, but then stopped suddenly. "Karma? Was there something you need help with?" She asked the Enlightened One as Karma made her way up next to the cell and looked at the librarian with a stern gaze. "I was listening to your interrogation of the prisoner. I believe after over hearing what she's said leads me to believe Lee Sin was right about her. She's not like the Noxians we've faced before." Mikki looked a bit shocked as she watched Karma unlock the cell door and entered, placing a set of clothes on the table, Mikki's librarian robes. "You're much more passive than those you probably deal with on a regular basis, am I correct?" She asked her as Mikki nodded in response.

"Yes, that's right." Mikki couldn't believe the turn around from talking with Irelia to Karma, feeling a bit disoriented and confused as she bowed her head in thanks to Karma. "You should thank Lee Sin for finding you on the beach." She suggested as Mikki made a move to sit on the edge of the bed to face her properly. "I will and thank you." She bowed again, wincing slightly from the pain in sides. "I should apologize as well for intruding like I did. I just wanted to take some time off from my duties and relax away from Noxus." Mikki told them as Karma nodded lightly. "As long as you understand, you'll be free to go to Sona's concert tomorrow, but you must have someone with you when you venture out so something like this doesn't happen again." Karma told her as Mikki nodded happily at the news. "Of course! I would be honored." Mikki picked up her clothes as she stood up, wobbling slightly as she followed Karma out of the holding cell basement to a guest house that sat just outside the boundaries of the Shojin Monastery. Irelia seemed very disappointed that Mikki gets to walk away and was more furious on the inside as Karma asked her to keep tabs on the librarian.

It was small in size but had all the essentials: The bed room, kitchen, and a lounge room. The décor was light in colors varying between peach to soft lavender making it seem calm and peaceful, just how she imagined it would be, kind of. Mikki thanked Karma once again and bid her farewell for the time being as she set her returned belongings in the bed room, quickly changed into her robes and walked back out to the lounge room to find Irelia staring at her with even more distrust than before. "Just because Karma and Lee trust you doesn't mean I don't." She hissed at the librarian as Mikki sighed softly. "I know and I won't blame you for it." Mikki replied gently as she walked towards the front door. "Though, I would like to thank Lee Sin for earlier. Don't suppose you'd help me find him so I can?" Mikki shudder as Irelia's blades almost menacingly as she gave her a curt nod and quickly zipped in front of Mikki and out the door.

Mikki had a hard time keeping up with Irelia as she sprinted ahead of her towards the monastery, her legs and stomach ached with all the running. "Irelia! Slow down, please!" Mikki yelled after her as she stumbled to a walk, breathing heavily as Irelia kept going through the gate entrance. She sighed and walked through the gates, taking all the stares of those guarding the entrance and started looking for signs on where Irelia went. She saw monks training in the main court yard as she slowly skirted around the edge looking for Irelia, feeling nervous and worried about being attacked. After making it around, she searched again for the blade wielder but ended up feeling a hand on her shoulder, making her jump and turn her head at the person behind her. His red bandage that wrapped around his eyes easily identified him as Mikki sighed nervously. "I could sense your anxiety from across the training yard, miss." Lee Sin told her gently as she looked around to see if Irelia was close by if he was here before turning her attention back to him. "I wanted to thank you for finding me earlier and apologize for the inconvenience of carrying me." Mikki said quickly as she bowed to him.

He smiled and tapped the top of her head gently. "You're such a unusual Noxian as I thought. You're tense, but not from anything that we should be worried about." He said as he tilted his head up and looked like he was searching for something and smirked. "Irelia's upset with you, isn't she?" Mikki blinked a couple times as she stared off in the direction Lee was facing and saw that she was standing near a corner of the building, staring at the two of them. "I'm afraid so, just because I'm a Noxian. I've been kept up in my library for so long I often over look how much hatred can be felt for just being labeled something that ruined someone else's life." Mikki said softly as she looked back at Lee Sin as she saw him nodded gently.

"So you're a librarian. What brings you to Ionia then?" He asked as he started walking towards where Irelia is as Mikki followed him close behind. "I wanted to see Sona's concert at the Serene Gardens in person since I read about how wonderful it is and to get away from those in Noxus that have been bothering me a lot lately." Mikki told him as they reached Irelia, hearing her huff a bit at what she heard. "So even you get sick of dealing with your fellow Noxians, huh?" Irelia openly mocked her as Mikki sighed heavily. "Yes, very hard to believe but falling at the seams isn't the best the thing in the world." She poked back as Lee stepped between them, disrupting their gaze at each other. "You two need to calm down. Let us head to the guest house where the young miss is staying at, shall we?" He suggested as they both nodded and followed him out of the courtyard and to the guest housing area. From there, Mikki and Irelia lead Lee to the right house that Karma showed Mikki to.

Mikki made up some tea for them all as they sat in the chairs around the lounge room of the guest house. "I really appreciate the tolerance of having me for a while." Mikki said, trying to strike up a conversation as she felt Irelia's gaze on her again as she set the cups of tea in front of each of them. "As long as you hold no ill will against anyone here, we're quite happy to allow you to stay for the time being." Mikki smiled gently as she knew he could just sense the ease he put her at as Irelia just shook her head and sipped at the tea after waiting for Mikki to get first taste. She felt drained after moving around so much with very little substance as she looked at the two Ionians before her. The sun was starting to set on the opposite horizon they noticed as a great yawn came from Mikki's mouth. "Tired already, librarian?" Irelia asked as she chuckled at Mikki's weakened state as she just nodded her head, ignoring the chuckle. "So much has happened today that I just feel so tired from all the exorcise and I might still have a bit of a cold." She said softly as she sniffed a bit. "You really should get some rest then. Tomorrow will be a big day for you and I'm sure you'll want all your energy back for it." Lee Sin agreed as he moved to leave before addressing Irelia. "You should rest as well, Irelia. Reflect on today's events and try to understand where our guest is coming from." He advised her as she pouted at his back as he left the two of them alone again.

"Guess I'll go lie down and rest up. Do you plan on staying here for the night as well, Irelia?" Mikki asked her gently as she nodded lightly. "Unfortunately, I've been asked to keep tabs on you so I'll just sleep out here on the couch, but I'm not falling asleep till you do." She muttered as Mikki frowned slightly at how much she hated her for her nationality. "Alright, I'll see you in the morning, then. Good night." Irelia just waved a hand and sat back in the chair as Mikki closed herself in the bed room, dressed into her travel gown and slipped into bed. She had a thought before she drifted into her exhausted sleep. She forgot to tell them her name.


	17. Chapter 16: Melodic Cadence

Chapter 16: Melodic Cadence

_~Trapped and pinned under the man she sought to leave behind, Mikki cried weakly as Swain had his way with her under the thick blankets of her guest bed room. She begged him to stop but he pressed on as if he didn't hear her pleas and just pressed further in each time she tried. Swain held a dangerous grin on his face as he ravaged her body and tore at her sanity with his presence alone as he continued to hold the weak librarian down. Tears ran down her face as she gripped at the at the pillows as he held her hands above her head, keeping her from pushing him away. He was getting closer as he picked up his pace, making sure she knew what was to come. Her eyes closed tightly as he pulled her hips tightly against his and nothing else was felt except for the feeling of being shaken.~_

Irelia was shaking Mikki's shoulder vigorously to wake her as she snapped her eyes open, looking horrified at the Ionian. "I-irelia?" She stuttered as she sat up in bed watching the blade wielder back up a bit from her. "I came to check on you since I heard you cry out as if you were in pain or something." She told the librarian as Mikki wiped off her forehead and found it covered in cold sweat. "Just crying?" She inquired her watcher as she saw her head shake side to side. "No, you were saying someone's name and when I got closer, I heard you say Swain's name. Why would you be saying his name and telling him to stop?" Mikki continued to look horrified as the color from her face drained away, leaving her skin pail white. "I-it's….not your concern." She countered weakly as she tried to lay down and pull the blankets over her head from the embarrassment of hearing she sleep talks and what she heard from it.

Irelia didn't take the answer as she pulled the blanket forcefully away from her. "Who are you and what is your connection to Noxus's Grand General?" She asked as she pulled Mikki by the collar of her night gown and forced her to see her eye to eye. Mikki held very still to not provoke her further as she tried to answer calmly as she could. "My name is Mikki Halsnight, sixth generation head librarian to the Grand Noxus Library and my connection to the Grand General should be obvious. If he needed any reading material or maps, he usually comes to me to supply him with such." Truth, but not the full truth she told her as Irelia listened closely to her reply before narrowing her eyes. "Why does your name sound familiar? Wait!" It clicked as Irelia willed her blades to point at Mikki's throat. "The Noxian Librarian! You're the one that judgment was withheld till you were ready to join or not." She was seething with fury as Mikki resigned to the facts and nodded weakly. "Yes, but I have no intention on becoming a champion like yourself. I'm not strong in anyway and why they wanted to put me though judgment was beyond me." She said softly as she weakly sagged against Irelia's hold on her gown.

She pushed the librarian back as she released her, upset at the lack of fight she was putting up. "There's something going on. You came here to get away from a certain someone, Swain, correct?" She asked as Mikki nodded again in response. "Yes, but I can't tell you the full details to why this is." She wanted to clarify that next question before Irelia asked her but it still didn't stop her from trying. "And why not? You sworn to keep your silence about the details between you two? Pathetic." Irritated with the answers she was getting, the blade wielder left the room, her blades whirling around with the same emotion. Mikki sighed as she saw it was still the middle of the night but thanks to Irelia's wake up call, she couldn't fall back asleep for the rest of the night before dozing off at the crack of dawn.

Mikki didn't have another nightmare as she woke up slowly with the nearing of the noon hour as she shuffled out of her room and found Irelia and Karma having tea, waiting for her no doubt. "About time you got back up, didn't you sleep after last night?" Irelia asked her as Mikki shook her head and sighed. "By the way, I told Karma about who you are and she's also curious as to why you are running from Noxus." Karma set down her cup as she looked up at the librarian. "If you would be so kind as to tell us." She added to Irelia's statement as she kept her eyes on her. Mikki glanced at the ground in front of her as she shuffled to the kitchen slowly. "I'd rather not go into it right now." She told them before disappearing into the kitchen to fix up something to eat and drink. She heard footsteps behind her as she poured some of the left over tea into a cup and turn her head to see Karma behind her. "Irelia told me about you having a nightmare about Swain and I understand you don't want to explain why, but you should know many of us who have heard of the rumors back at the Institute is going to wonder why you're here and not at his side." Karma told her as she sipped at the tea slowly.

"I understand that much." Mikki faced the Enlightened One as she sighed softly. "I will tell you now I left Noxus to get away from Swain. He's been a bit…overbearing lately with what has been going on with the judgment and other things that doesn't concern anyone else here." She told her as she turned her attention to the small plate of crackers and started munching on one as Karma thought about what she was told. "I just wanted time to myself. I thought Ionia would be a wonderful place to visit and relax for a while so I can undo all the tension I've built up over the past month." She continued as she took another cracker and nibbled at it. "You don't get out very often, that much is certain. Though, your ignorance is both a blessing and a curse and you're very lucky to be as passive as you are or else you'd still be in the prison cell." Karma said sternly as Mikki nodded in agreement. "I still thank you for letting me stay here for the weekend." Mikki finished her tea and crackers and swiftly made haste to change into her normal attire so that they'll head out and walk about Ionia before Sona's concert started later that evening.

The town was as beautiful as the pictures she's seen in books and more so due to the experience of being here in person. Even with all the stares she was getting as she, Irelia and Karma walked around the parks, she still felt like a kid in a candy shop, taking in all the sights and sounds. Her reactions to everything pulled small chuckles from Karma and Irelia as they see just how much she's enjoying walk through their home city. "It's so amazing here, so much more peaceful than Noxus." She said gently as she glanced at elegant shop signs and the trees that line the walkways. "Much more colorful, too." She made it hard for Irelia to stay mad at her as she kept gazing around happily. "You really enjoy it this much?" She asked the librarian as Mikki nodded her head vigorously. "Absolutely! You already know I don't travel often and this is my first time here." Irelia crossed her arms and shook her head in defeat. "You truly are the strangest Noxian I'll ever meet." Karma chuckled lightly at that as they reached where the concert would be held. The expanse of the seating area was easily capable of holding over a thousand people in it's seats as it surrounded the stage that was five feet high off the ground.

"We still have hours yet before the performance. Why don't we go and get something to eat?" Karma suggested as Mikki and Irelia nodded in agreement. "Sure. What do you suggest we have? I'm open for trying anything." Karma seemed to have an idea as they followed her to a nearby restaurant and took a seat at a window table. They were given menus as Mikki looked over the items with curiosity. It all looked good, but she noticed a bit of a trend in the items. "I never had fish before." She muttered softly as Irelia chuckled lightly at the thought. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Here, you should try this one first just to see if you would like it." The waiter took each of their orders and left them to their drink and small talk before returning shortly with each of the dishes. Mikki took a bite of the dish as she blinked a couple times before swallowing the fishy bite. The look on her face was more than enough to make Irelia burst out laughing as Mikki stared at the plate in front of her. "What did I just eat and why did it taste so…weird?" She asked as Karma explained to her the reasons as they ate their late lunch.

The tension Mikki had was slowly ebbing away as the day progressed, meeting new champions and exploring a new city was most refreshing thing to her as the sun slowly set to the west. They made their way back to the concert area and had to slowly push their way to a suitable spot for all of them. People around them were chattering with excitement as the lantern were lit around the Serene Garden, giving it that soft glow around the area. A soft strum of strings floated through the air as everyone fell silent and gazed towards the stage. Sona gracefully made her way to the center of the stage, her etwahl being held in front of her as she started off with a slow melody, calming the whole crowd with each note that vibrated throughout the air. The song lasted over several minutes before she moved seamlessly to the next song, picking something that made Mikki's heart race with joy and happiness. The music was too beautiful for words and everything she read on Sona's concerts couldn't compare to what she was experiencing in person. The tempo changed to a more serene chords as Sona gently strung away on her instrument with much practice.

Each note tugged and pulled at the emotions of everyone in the audience as Sona continued her performance with grace as Mikki felt her eyes well up with tears as the melody turned to a more melancholy sounding as reasons of her leaving the library flooded her mind, leaving her openly crying as the song progress. Irelia rubbed at her back gently, not sure if she should say anything during the performance as Mikki wiped at the tears that fell. The melody picked back up again as Mikki slowly recovered from the last piece. Sona continued for roughly ten more minutes before ending, leaving the audience clapping and cheering wildly. She bowed to the crowd as she gently swept back to the back stage. Karma turned to Mikki with a gently look as she handed Mikki a tissue. "Did you enjoy the performance?" She asked as Mikki only nodded and blew her slightly runny nose. "No words can describe what she does, not even a librarian like myself could put together the right words." She replied as Irelia nodded. "Of course not. Sona is the Maven of the Strings and she lets everyone know that each time she goes on stage and even on the Fields of Justice." Irelia added proudly.

Mikki smiled widely as she faced the two of them and bowed. "I'm very grateful to have this honor of spending my time with the two of you, meeting Lee Sin and being able to listen to Sona's melodies. Again, thank you so very much." She said as they smiled back. "You're most welcome, but next time, send a letter so we know you're coming next time." Mikki nodded happily as she straightened herself out. "Of course, but not too soon though, I owe my employees some needed time off for running off the way I did this weekend." They laughed as they walked back to the guest house again as they talked about what they do in their spare time as Mikki made note to write it all down later as she let herself in and headed straight to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep that was much calmer than last night.

Mikki woke bright and early the next morning as she greeted Irelia, who slept in the lounge room again and asked her if she could accompany her to the shore where she was found. "What for? You lose something at the beach?" She asked as Mikki shook her head. "No, I just need to be a bit closer so I can teleport back to Noxus, as much as I don't want to, but my library needs me." Irelia seemed a bit disappointed as she agreed to show her to the beach side where she washed up at. In the morning light, the sand glowed a soft white hue as they strolled along the coast till they reached the closest point to the main land. "Here we are. You sure you want to go back now?" Mikki nodded and smiled lightly. "Yeah, I'm sure." She bid Irelia farewell as she also asked to pass it on to Karma and Lee Sin as well as the familiar purple ruin formed under her feet for a few seconds before making her disappear from Ionia.

She arrived at the Noxian docks as she watched the bustle of traders and sea farers moving about as she let a sigh and started walking towards the library. The town seemed to be bigger after being away from it for a couple days as Mikki trudged down the streets, checking around to make sure she wasn't being followed or watched. Times pasted slowly as she reached the final stretch, seeing her library doors open for the day as she gave a small sigh of relief that her employees are working. Walking up to the library, a foreboding feeling started to come over her as she neared the front doors and entered inside. Looking around, she noticed that people were closely grouped up together and looking terrified of something. That something was standing off to her left, his red eyes narrowed down in anger at her as she turned to face him. "Swain, don't give me that look. You're scaring the patrons." She told him, but that didn't deter him from stalking up to her, grabbing her arm and almost dragging her up towards her apartment in haste.

Several of the patrons scattered to the far reaches of the library to get out of their way as he opened the door to the personal stair case and closed it behind them and continued to roughly guide her to her room. "Where did you run off to? Answer me!" He growled at her as he kept a tight hold on her arm, almost feeling the bone with his fingers as he held on. Mikki lowered her head slightly as she answered him. "I went to Ionia." She muttered as the grip started to loosen slight, but not much. "Why did you go there without telling anyone or asking for permission? I might have needed you during that time you disappeared from here and what you did could have been a worst case scenario for us if something arose while you were gone." He was thoroughly angry with her as she continued to look away from him with distain and guilt. "I was reaching the end of my rope with you constantly visiting, Swain. I needed to leave and relax somewhere." She tried to explain to him as he shoved her to her bed and started pacing about the room. Mikki watched him with cautious eyes as he glared at her once more.

"You will not do this again, ever! Do you understand me?" He commanded her as she shrunk back from the force of his words. "Alright, I'm sorry. I won't do it again." She mumbled loudly as he rasped his cane on her floor, causing her to jump. "I said I won't do it again!" She said much more clearly for him as he nodded curtly at her. "Better." He voice was raspy now as he moved next to the bed and took her chin with his hand and leaned down to give her a quick kiss before releasing her again. "You have a library to run. I won't stay this time, but I'll be back later to chat with you more on this little excursion of your's." He told her as he left her apartment without another word. She was shuddering heavily as she curled her legs up to her chest and started rocking herself back and forth on the bed. So much for the rest she had from her trip as she moved off the bed and got cleaned up and headed back down to the library where her three assistances greeted her with extreme joy and worry as she told each of them where she went and why.

They were just glad to have their employer back safe and sound as they told her the events of the past couple days. Mikki smiled weakly as she realized Swain gave them such a hard time while she was gone and promised them if she were to go on a trip, she'd take them with her. "Right now, we should get back to work, the patrons are getting impatient with us talking." They each agreed as they moved on for the day, hoping this doesn't happen again.


	18. Chapter 17: Depression

Chapter 17: Depression

With the hype of her trip gone after several days, Mikki kept up her appearance as head librarian as her employees continued working on their usual chores around the library. Swain's later visit came after the hype as well as he visited shortly after the library closed for the night. It was getting colder as late fall was starting to settle into the air, making the wind frigid cold as she let Swain and Beatrice inside the library and closed the door. Without saying a word, Swain headed towards the top floor as she followed him closely and found he was going to her apartment as she narrowed her gaze at his back, but not for long as Beatrice cawed at her. She sighed as she opened the door to the staircase and let him into her personal room and closed the door behind them as he took a seat on her writer's chair by the desk. "I guess I should tell you every detail of my trip, starting with how I managed to elude Katarina and Talon?" She inquired as he set his cane squarely in front of him. "Of course. I'm very curious how you got away from them." He was sure they could keep her here, but they failed do to the fact she was never open about the offensive rune magic she wields.

Mikki went in to an elaborate story as to how she stunned poor Talon, knocked around Katarina and faked both of them out with her teleport spell and ended up in the cold waters of the Guardian's Sea, just off the coast of Ionia. "Neither knew you were capable of such acts which threw them off. Continue." She inhaled deeply as she told him of the fact she was severely cold and tired from the cold sea water as she passed out of the sand beach only to be found and saved by Lee Sin, who found her, and ended up in the Ionian Prison Hold where Irelia interrogated her and even threatened her with her blades while she was still recovering from the cold but was stopped as Karma detected no malice from her and showed her to a guest house outside of the monastery grounds. "Your luck holds no bounds on how you manage to get on everyone's good side while staying in the middle." He noted as Mikki gave him a quick glance of irritation before continuing. She told him about the next day, skipping the nightmare that happened at night, as she told him of her sightseeing with Karma and Irelia and how they attended one of Sona's performances that night. "And after one more night of sleep, I came back here where I found you terrorizing the patrons and my employees with your presence." She concluded as she faced his still form.

His eyes bore into her as she waited for him to say something about the whole recount of her trip and it made her shudder to think what was going through his mind right now. After a minute, she moved to sit on the edge of her bed as she stared back at him in silence. The gaze never left her even after she moved as Swain finally turned his head forward to speak. "So you enjoyed yourself and gained experience for what it's like to deal with those outside of Noxus or the Institute of War for the first time. Remember that other city-states won't be the same to you as the Ionians." He told her as she nodded lightly, even though she had no new plans on going out again for a while yet. "Is there anything else you wanted me to explain tonight, or is this all?" She asked cautiously as she leaned forward a bit on the edge. He got up of the chair and walked over to her by the bed and looked down at her, taking his free hand and lifting her chin up as she looked up at him with both curiosity and a slight hint of fear. "There are many things I want from you, but it'll have to wait till a better time." He whispered as she gulped lightly as he released her chin and slowly made his way out of the apartment. She followed after him so she could lock up the front door as he left.

Once he was gone, she growled at herself and stamped her foot down on the ground in frustration. The things he does to her keep putting her emotions in to a frenzy, making her happy, angry, scared, curious, or irritated and it was driving her mad as she stalked back up to her room. What was he waiting for? The thought traveled through her mind in circles as she flopped onto her bed and curled up with her pillow, holding it tightly to her chest. No, she knew what he was waiting for and she is the what. Playing his game till he gets his way, but at the rate of how close he's gotten before, it's only a matter of time till it fully plays out. Despite being at the library, surrounded by the pacifism spell, she didn't feel safe like she used to. Curling tighter, she buried her face into the pillow and screamed into it, making her light headed as she released the poor pillow and laid flat on her back. Feeling the cold chill in her room, she shuddered and pulled her blankets over her. Sleep, she chided herself as she sighed heavily and closed her eyes.

The days seem to crawl at a slow pace for Mikki as everything from before the trip fell back into the normal routine. She found herself sighing a lot as she sat at the Information and Checkout counter alone while the patrons grew fond of the new faces of the library. At one point, she dozed off for a while and was awoken by a simple tap on her shoulder as she looked at the person in front of her. "This is unusual, you sleeping on the job like this." Ezreal said softly as Mikki sat up and straightened out her robes in a panic. "Um…ah…I'm sorry about that. I guess I'm just not as…energetic as I was before." She clamored about as she glance at him from the edges of her eyes as she was trying to look to see if anyone else noticed. He raised and eye brow and took his gloves off and felt the top of her forehead and compared it to his. "Hmm, you don't seem to have a fever or anything but you are just a tab on the warm side. Have you been sleeping well lately?" He asked her as he pulled back and replaced his gloves on his hands. Mikki shrugged as she looked up at him. "I sleep like I always have. Haven't been bothered in the middle of the night either which does help." She replied as Ezreal crossed him arms and pondered what else could be the reason.

She pouted up at him as he tried to think of an answer. "You don't have to come up with an answer for everything, Ez." She muttered at him indignantly. He chuckled and patted the top of her head. "I know, but if you're not taking care of yourself, then who does?" He poked back, grinning at her curiously as she huffed at him. "You know I take care of myself just fine, I'm just a bit tired today, that's all." She lightly moved his hand off her head as she stood up. "I just got a lot on my mind and even less in my stomach. I'm going to find something for lunch." She said calmly as she started for the west wing kitchen as he followed closely behind her. "A lot on your mind, huh? Guess that happens quite a bit being head librarian and all with new employees." He told her as he walked by her side. "Perhaps you'd like to tell me some of the things that are on your mind to lessen the weight?" He proceeded to ask as they walked through the kitchen door. "It's alright, it's nothing I can't handle as long as I eat." He chuckled as he watched her fix up a sandwich and join him at a table.

"So, I heard that you visited Ionia recently from Irelia." He looked at her curiously and saw that she was slightly choking on the bite before she took a long drink to clear her throat. He laughed as she gave him a mock punch to his arm. "So she told you I showed up on their shore for a couple days, huh? What all did she tell you of it?" She asked him back as he smiled. "That you were the most unusual Noxian she's ever met and you have the mentality of a child when it comes to anything new." He told her as she covered her face with a hand at his response. He chuckled and patted her back. "Don't worry. I told her you were always like that." Mikki's face was turning red as she looked at him in disbelief. "I can't believe you told her that. I'm not always like that and you know it!" She swatted at him as he pretended to be hurt for her amusement. "I suppose I deserve that, but I did tell her that you're always kind, regardless of where they come from." She sighed at him and started munching away at her sandwich. "At least she doesn't hate me." She muttered through the bite before swallowing it.

She eventually told him of her trip in slight detail, leaving out how she escaped from Katarina and Talon and her return to the library. "At least you hade some fun in the end. Sona's music is really something you just have to behold in person, like you said." He said happily as she finished off her lunch. She wiped off her face with a napkin before looking at him curiously. "I forgot to ask, what brings you here today, besides asking how my trip was?" She inquired, tilting her head at him. Ezreal rubbed the back of his head and smiled a bit. "Well, your employees are worried about you and asked to see if I could cheer you up any." This news brought another flush of red on her face as she looked around and spotted the three watching them from the doorway. Of course, they left once they saw her staring at them. "Did they tell you anything other than I haven't been in a good mode lately?"

This made him look off a bit to the side before he answered. "Well, they mentioned that Swain has been bothering you a lot lately and that was what caused you to take that trip in the first place. Now he seems to be aggravated with you and they think this is the reason you're upset because they think you don't like it when other's are angry at you." Ezreal explained to her, trying to make sure that's what her employees did tell him. Mikki's reaction, however, wasn't something he expected as she shuddered at Swain's name and sighed heavily once he was finished, leaning over the table and placing her head on her hands. "Did they assume correctly?" He tried asking her gently as she looked away from him, not answering. He was taken aback to this as he rubbed her back gently, hoping that'll help ease her worry a bit. He was concerned by this seeing as she's never acted this way before with him or anyone else he's seen. "It'll be okay, I'm sure you'll get over this soon, you just need rest that's all." Reassuring her that he was there for her as she glanced at him weakly and nodded.

While he was glad she was listening to him, but something was off about her reaction to Swain's name that made it more worrisome to Ezreal as he helped her get up and escorted her to her apartment. "Now, just go ahead and rest up and leave everything to me and your assistants, alright?" He said as she nodded lightly and smiled a bit up at him. He frowned at the librarian's current state and pulled her into a hug, holding her head close to his chest. She gasped at the sudden hug as she looked up at him with a surprised look on her face, her cheeks red with embarrassment as she felt his hand petting her hair lightly. "If he dares to make you depressed like this again, come find me and I'll take you somewhere to cheer you up." Ez told her as she nodded in his embrace as she hugged him back tightly. "Thank you. I'll remember that for next time." She whispered softly as she rested her head against him. He held her a couple moments longer before opening her door and showing her in so she could rest. "Anything I should pass on to your workers before I head back down?" He wondered as Mikki pondered for a moment before giving him her response.

"Let them know that I won't be working the next couple days and not worry about bringing food up to me. I'll get my own food when I need it." She told him as he tilted his head at her and before he could ask why, she raised her hand at him and shook her head. "It's best not to question my decision. I'll be fine and hopefully in a couple days I'll be right as rain again." He nodded and gave her a final hug before heading back down stairs to the library to inform the others of her time off. She closed the apartment door behind her and locked it, listening to the faded noise of the chatter below her as she heaved a heavy sigh before taking a seat in her writing chair and facing the desk. She pulled her journal from it's shelf and started to document the events since the last entry as she scribbled everything down furiously, wavering a bit when ever she reached Swain's name before pressing on.

She needed to speak to him about his little game with her, but when was the problem. She didn't know how his usual days worked and the only times she really sees him is when he comes to her or by invitation. The next two days is when she'll try and gain audience with him, with or without permission if she must. She topped off the journal entry and let it set out to dry as she leaned back into her chair. What a wreck, she thought to herself as she ran a hand through her hair, starting at the front and working her small fingers through her hair through to the tie that loosely held the thick strains together before pulling it off, letting her hair flow freely down her back. She glanced at the time when she noticed the light in her room diminishing as it showed near time for the library to close for the night. She'll sleep tonight and tomorrow will be her time to visit Swain when he least expects it. Maybe.


	19. Chapter 18: In Due Course

Chapter 18: In Due Course

April, 16 CLE Six years ago.

A tawny older woman sat behind the Information and Checkout counter, sorting returned books into neat piles off to the side. Her stern face slightly hidden behind her small thin rim glasses at sat at the end of her slightly crocked nose and salt and pepper hair that covered the left side of her face as it hung well below her waist as she worked. Her head librarian robes were worn with age and use as she looked around the library to see any patrons getting ready to check out before returning to her sorting. She spotted her daughter placing some of the returned books to the upper shelves, wobbling slightly on the stool below her as she held onto the shelf for support. The older woman shook her head as she looked up to see a man walk into the library, limping slightly and holding onto a cane. The man's raven cawed in greeting at the sight of the woman as she bowed her head at him in return. "Welcome back, Jericho. I see you're doing well." The woman said softly to Swain as he bowed lightly to the librarian.

"It's good to see you again, Arabeth. I see you're looking well." He responded to her as she smiled lightly at the comment. "I've been better, much like yourself." She mused as she glanced at his crippled leg before turning her gaze back up at him. "What brings you here today? Surely not to just chat with an old woman like myself." She jested at him as he looked in the direction of the young girl placing the books back to the shelves. "I heard today was a special day for your daughter. Eighteen years old already. You must be proud." Arabeth glance back at her ungraceful daughter as she wobbled violently this time, but still managed to catch herself before falling. "Eighteen and she would rather stay and help around the library than go socialize with those her own age. I am very proud." She said softly as she looked back at Swain curiously. "I'm sure you'd like to wish her a happy birthday yourself, correct?" He nodded and limped around the counter and down the isle to the girl.

Her hair was cropped short to the shoulder and was wearing a more informal looking robes than her mother's, purple as opposed to the green. She placed one more book onto the shelf as she glanced towards his footsteps, wobbling again before taking a step down to stop. "You might need to get a better stand. This one isn't holding still for you at all." He commented as she took another step down and looked up at him. "I know, I know. I keep bugging Mother over it but she refuses to have it replaced." The girl huffed as she leaned around him and shot a glare to her mother before facing Swain again. "So, what brings you to here today?" She asked him lightly, tilting her head to the side as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I came to wish you a happy eighteenth birthday, of course." He told her as she blushed lightly and glanced at the shelf next to them. "T-thank you, Swain. I didn't think you'd remember it." She stammered lightly. Off in the distance a small ding sounded through the halls. "Ah! The cake!" She quickly bowed to Swain and dashed off to the kitchen area in the west wing.

Arabeth was walking up beside Swain slowly, holding tightly to a tall walking staff as she stepped up next to him. "Ever vigilant, she is. Don't you agree, Jericho?" She inquired softly as he nodded his head. He eyed her staff curiously, seeing it for the first time. "Are your knees really that weak to you, Arabeth?" He questioned her as she sighed softly, also glancing at the staff. "I can't bend them like I use to. I'm not as young either." She muttered at him as she motioned for him to follow her to the west wing. Together, they limped and slowly made their way to the kitchen and watched as they saw her daughter slowly frosting the top of the freshly baked cake. The girl glanced up at them as she pouted at them indignantly. "The cake isn't ready yet, Mother. I'm not done putting the finishing touches on it." She told them as her mother chuckled lightly. "I know, dear, but it's always fun to tease you when you're busy."

Swain watched the two chatter at each other as he glanced at the cake the girl was working on. It was a sixteen by eight inch rectangular one layer cake that was covered in white frosting and was slowly being decorated with red letters from an icing packet. 'Happy birthday' was all it read as she was now lining the bottom and top edges with the leftover red icing making small waves for some decoration. The girl caught Swain's eyes and tilted her head at him. "I'm guess you'll be staying for cake as well, Swain?" She asked him as he looked at her, seeing the innocence on her face as she watched and waited for him to reply. "I'll be staying for a while, but I'll have none of your cake, if that's what you're worried about." He told her as she laughed softly. Arabeth sighed as she watched her daughter then turned to Swain, pulling him away from the kitchen to let her daughter finish up. "To think she'll be stuck here for all her life once I'm gone." She muttered at him as he nodded slowly. "I'm sure she'll regret staying here during the time I was around for her." Swain saw where she was going with this as he bowed his head at Arabeth.

"I'll do my best to make sure she doesn't feel that way. I already made a promise to look after her once you've moved on but what happens afterwards things will soon be out of my hands till I figure out what you've been trying to do all these years." He whispered to her as she nodded lightly. "Mikki is much more powerful than I ever was when I was her age. I'm sure she'll gladly be of service to you when the time is right for you to call on her." Swain smirked under his bandana as he nodded and moved to look back into the kitchen where Mikki was washing up the utensils she used on the cake. "The cake is done, but we're not having any till after we eat dinner tonight." She called out to them as she kept her mind at the task at hand. Looking at the cake again, Swain noticed a slight finger print of where someone already took a bit of frosting for herself. It was easy to see the guilty grin on her face as she dried and put away the utensils and started on preparing dinner for the three of them.

June, 18 CLE Two years later.

Swain received a letter from Arabeth requesting he come visit her at the library. It was urgent, he noticed as he and his raven set off to the library once more. Over the past couple years, her health was slowly deteriorating and fast due to an unknown disease that seemed to only affect her and not Mikki. This request couldn't be ignored if he wanted to. He gently petted Beatrice as the carriage swiftly trotted down the streets towards their destination. An odd sensation filled the air as he stepped out of the carriage and gazed up at the grand library. Dread, he recognized as he pressed forward, limping up to the front door and opening it and found Mikki behind the main counter doing what her mother always did, sort the returned books. She looked up at him in surprised and bowed her head in greeting. "It's good to see you, Swain. What brings you here this late afternoon?" She asked as she tilted her head at him as he strolled up to the counter. "You mother requested I come visit once more. Is she upstairs in the apartment?" He asked as Mikki nodded weakly.

"Yes, of course." She started to get up to show him up, but he raised his hand and told her he didn't need the escort up as he limped past her slowly and climbed the spiral stair case to the top floor and down the hall to the staircase to the private room for Arabeth and Mikki. He didn't bother knocking as he opened the door and let himself in. He turned his attention to the frail form of the woman lying still on the main bed as she weakly turned her head to see him. Her form looked more withered each time he saw her as he moved to take a seat next to the bed. "So…you finally…" She started coughing heavily as Swain helped her sit up to let the coughing pass less painfully. "Yes, I came as soon as I could. It's getting worse." He stated as she nodded weakly, breathing heavily through her nose as she looked blankly at the ceiling. "Worse…by the day." She muttered as she coughed again, only once this time. His eyes narrowed at the thought as he sat next to Arabeth. "Mikki will be devastated once you're gone." He muttered softly to her as she sighed heavily, turning her gray eyes at him.

"I….have a favor…to ask of you." She wheezed heavily as he pulled her up right so he could clear her throat again. He kept silent and waited for her to continue as she realized this herself. "I need…you to end this." He looked her over as she glanced at him with pleading eyes as he looked around the room. "What about your daughter? Does she know you want this?" The old woman shook her head side to side and coughed harder than ever. "Use your magic. It'll be swift and she'll…take on my role." Arabeth breathed heavily as if trying not to cough again as Swain rubbed her back gently. "She'll know if I kill you." He warned her as once again, she shook her head. "No. She'll go into shock the moment I reach the end." She whispered softly as she closed her eyes. "It's best…we do this now…on my terms." She gasped and coughed as Swain laid her back down on the bed and stood up, looking down at the frail woman.

He raised a hand to her as she kept her eyes closed. "Farewell, Arabeth Halsnight." He whispered before casting Torment on to the woman, watching her writhe and cringe at the pain it caused her. A scream was heard, but not from Arabeth, but from somewhere downstairs in the main library as he looked at the woman in front of him, seeing her now still form, released from the pain and suffering the disease caused her. The spell he cast dissipated from Arabeth as he quickly limped out of the apartment to find Mikki. He didn't have to look far as he saw Mikki's collapsed form behind the counter in the main lobby. Her form was glowing a dull grey as she twitched uncontrollably on the ground, gasping for air like a fish out of water. A black rune formed under the girl and slowly turned white as Mikki slowly stopped gasping and laid still on the ground, passed out from the pain she felt. Swain moved closer to inspect her condition as he found she was breathing slowly, but steadily. He carefully rolled her to her back and lifted her up princess style and slowly carried her back up to the apartment and laid her down on the small futon on the ground where she slept.

After making everything look natural, he alerted the medical center and waited for them to arrive. Mikki stirred in her sleep as she groaned in pained, rolling back to her side and curling up tightly, still unaware of her mother's death. He leaned down and shook her light and watched as she groaned again and slowly opened her eyes. "W-what happened?" She muttered as she tried to get up and looked around and realized Swain was right next to her and backed into the wall behind her. "Swain! Don't do that!" She said in shock as she slid back down to the futon. "Why am I in the apartment?" She questioned as she looked up and saw her mother in her bed then turn back to Swain with sudden clarity. "Wait…Swain…" She couldn't quite get the words out of her mouth as Swain merely nodded to the unspoken question. "I'm afraid she's gone, Mikki." He told her grimly as she slumped down and pulled her knees to her chest, holding tightly. "I've already alerted the medical center and they'll be here shortly." She was shaking slightly as she buried her face into her arms. It was truly a sad day at the library.

June, 18 CLE Week later.

A funeral was held for Arabeth Halsnight. Many frequent patrons came to show their respect as Mikki stood directly in front, wearing familiar green and gold robe and holding a bundle of black roses. Her face showed no happiness as she stared at the newly placed headstone with her mother's name on it. Many expressed their condolences to her, but even it wasn't enough as she saw Swain walk up to her, bowing deeply to her. "I'm deeply sorry for your loss, even though I was there, I could do nothing to help you." He said to her slowly as she shook her head at him. "No, you did what you could do." She replied to him as she looked at him. "You were her good friend and last person to see her alive. I'm sure she had her reasons for calling on you to visit her before she…" Her throat seized up as she looked to the ground with regret. Swain tilted her head back up to him with his hand. "She wanted me to look after you. Make sure you are capable of running the library without her." He told her as she looked off to the side weakly. "Even in death she still looks out for me." She mumbled softly as he let her go.

Mikki looked back at the gravestone and sighed heavily as she felt a small rain drop fall on her face and turned her attention to the sky. The gray clouds started to drizzle down on the funeral as she sighed heavily. "Guess I should go home." She muttered as they moved under a tree for cover, Beatrice shaking her feathers off covering both of them with water. "It would be for the best. The library doesn't run without it's head librarian." She nodded in agreement as she looked up at him. "You think I can do it as well as my mother did?" She asked him curiously as he nodded. "I believe you could do better. Take your time with it and I'm sure you'll get back into it once you get over this hurdle." He said as he watched the drizzle slow again to nothing. Mikki smiled lightly at him before she stretched out on her toes. "I guess I'll do my best." With that, she started off to the exit as Swain followed her closely.

"You know, you look good in the head librarian robes." He told her as she glanced back at him, her face lightly flushed from the comment as she gave him and exaggerated huff. "You're just saying that." She said as they left the graveyard and headed for the library. The way she walked was a lot like how Arabeth walked in her early years and even held her head the same. The only real difference was the hair and eye color, both dark brown instead of black hair and greenish gray eyes. A younger version of an old friend, yet, the thought of using her the way he used everyone else seemed more enjoyable. He knew one day she'd be a solution to a future problem, but where she'll fit in was the question he needed to find out and the only place to look would be the library. But, for now, it can wait as the times where changing and events are about to unfold that will change Valoran forever.


	20. Chapter 19: Corrupted Innocence

Chapter 19: Corrupted Innocence

It was early in the morning when Mikki woke up with determination to face Swain on her own terms. She heard her employees setting up downstairs as she cleaned up and put on her clean formal librarian's robes. With a sigh and looking into her mirror, she saw her refection as she pulled her air back into a tight low hanging pony tail and pulled the straggling hairs behind her ears, nodding in approval. Whatever happens today will stay between her and Swain alone as she looked at the time and saw it was barely nine in the morning. With the weather making the air crisp and chill, she pulled her black travel cloak about her small shoulders and bid her assistants good luck for the day as she strolled into Noxus.

Looking up, the clouds started to gather and darken with time as Mikki made her way around Noxus to the front of Swain's estate and stood in front of the gates for a moment. The building looked much less intimidating during the day, despite the shadows cast from the clouds above as she pushed her way through the gates and walked slowly up the path to the front door. Carriages lined in front of the estate as she figured he was holding some sort of meeting with the Noxian Council inside. She inhaled deeply and stepped up to the front door and rapped the door with her knuckles a few times before stepping back and waited patiently. A moment passed before heavy footsteps where heard on the other side of the door, then, with a soft click, the door opened as she now faced Darius, the Hand of Noxus, staring down at her small form with an dissatisfied face. "What do you want?" He commanded from her as she composed herself and looked him in the eye. "I'm here to speak with Jericho Swain, once he's done with meeting the council, of course." She answered him as he gave her an amused huff.

"You really think you can just get in without being invited, child?" He mocked her openly as he held his ax in front of him, trying to scare her away from her objective. "Why not? He does it all the time to me and I don't think he'll mind a bit of small talk after dealing with the old fools of the council." She said calmly as she held her ground in front of him, though, admittedly, not the best thing that she could be doing at the moment. Darius laughed as he continued to posture in front of her to deter any more further prying. "I don't care what he does to you, you weren't invited. Now go back home like a good little girl and leave the adults to their games." He was babying her as she felt her eye twitch at the comments as she breathed deeply, pushing all need to cause harm to the man in front of her with all her might. Another set of footsteps was heard behind her, breaking her concentration, as they heard a loud voice come from the direction of the footsteps. "Darius, good timing opening that door! Draaaaven is back!"

Both of them looked at the man walking up the path to Swain's estate as she heard a groan coming from Darius behind her as Draven made his way to the steps and in front of Mikki. "Who's this lovely lady, Brother?" He asked curiously as he gave her a grin that made her spine crawl at how creepy it was. Darius rolled his eyes at his brother before replying. "Just an uninvited child." He remarked as Mikki gave him a quick irritated glance before turning her gaze back to Draven, who was slowly getting closer to her personal space. She didn't know which of the brothers was worse, the one with the giant ax that doesn't care or the one with the mustache and grin that looked like he was getting ready to have his way with her right there on the front porch. She took a side step away from Draven as he inched closer yet. "I'm just here to talk with Swain. If you insist, I'll stand out here till the meeting is over and you can ask him if it's alright for me to see him." She said quickly as they both laughed this time, making her eye twitch once more. "Why would you want to see him when you have two perfectly good looking men right in front of you, missy?" Draven grinned devilishly at her as she frowned at him, not amused in the slightest.

"Not interested." She put bluntly as she wrapped her arms across her chest as the wind blew by, making it colder than she liked. Draven spotted this and chuckled. "You look like you could use someone to hold on to for warmth. Why don't you come inside and cuddle with me by the fire for a while?" He offered as Mikki narrowed her eyes at him disapprovingly. "I'd rather be standing in the middle of a blizzard in Freljord than have you near me." She muttered at him as he gave her a mock dejected look. Darius turned his attention elsewhere, obviously not caring about what his brother was doing, and gave a slight cough, drawing Draven and Mikki's attention as they saw Swain standing just a little ways behind the entryway. "I figured you'd come by soon, Mikki." He said as Darius and Draven looked at each other then Mikki, trying to figure out what was going on.

Mikki bowed her head to him and slipped by Darius swiftly as she stopped a couple feet from Swain. "I thought so, just waiting for me to show up." She said to him calmly, watching for his reaction, but none came. Draven pushed passed his brother and pulled the door closed behind him. "Maybe you should warn your guards about my impending arrivals so I don't have to stand outside and wait for you to get me." She suggested as Swain turned back around and headed back to the meeting hall. "I just came to let you in, the meeting won't be over for a while yet. We'll talk afterwards." He told her as he walked passed the doors to the meeting room leaving Mikki to look around the front room with interest. The brothers both moved back to each side of the meeting room doors and watched the librarian closely as she surveyed the room.

While there were several chairs scattered about the room, even more book shelves filled with old novels covered the walls and several more painting hung above the fire place Draven mentioned earlier. With a quick step, she faced the fire and sighed happily as she felt the heat on her face, reaching out her hands to receive the same treatment as she glanced at the brothers and noticed they were watching her with two different reactions. Darius was upset that she easily was able to come in despite all he did to prevent her from it while Draven was watching her for another reason all together. He looked like he did earlier, like he wanted to take her and make her his. She knew it won't happen though as she moved away from the fire place and took a seat in one of the chair by a book shelf holding some familiar novels. Scanning the binding of the various books, she noticed some of them were ones that used to be in the ruined book bin that people could take from the library without checking them out or returning them. "Huh, who knew he took a few of them?" She muttered softly to herself as she leaned back into the chair.

An hour passed in silence as Mikki dozed lightly in the chair, listening to the crackle of the wood in the fire place and the occasion yell from the meeting room. She cracked an eye open to make sure the blood brothers were still where they are as she rested her head on her hands while leaning on the arm rest of the chair. Some more time must have passed as she heard a loud thud in front of her, snapping her eye open to see Swain standing inches in front of her face. She quickly sat up in the chair and looked up at him, feeling one side of her hair loosen from the tie as she tried to pull it back into place while she heard chuckling coming from the brothers still by the door. "Enjoy your nap?" He questioned her as she stretched her arms up and heard an audible pop from her shoulders. "Could have been worse." She muttered as she moved to get up, but couldn't do to the fact he was standing directly in front of where her feet would go. "Umm, I'm guessing the meeting is over?" She asked him back as she waited for him to back up a bit so she could stand.

He stepped back a bit, but just enough so she may stand as she was now inches from him as she looked up at him sternly. "It's been over for over a couple hours and you've been sleeping in that chair the whole time, according to Darius and Draven." He told her as she blinked a couple times before glancing at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace. It was already into the late afternoon hours as she sighed. Just how long was that meeting anyways? "Well, I'm surprised no one woke me up sooner." She muttered as Beatrice cawed at her loudly, making her ears ring. "Oh trust us, we tried. You sleep like a rock, girly." Draven said as he continued to chuckle at her, drawing her narrowed gaze at him. A throb made itself known to her on her shoulder as she realized they probably tried shaking her awake. Swain turned around and motioned for the brothers to leave for the day as she heard them grumble as they shuffled out the door and closed it behind them. "I think it's time we have that talk you wanted." He said as he turned back to her, looking at her sternly as she nodded lightly. "Yes, please."

Swain moved to lock the front door. "You're the last one here so it's just the two of us." He told her as she turned her head to the dying fire. "Just us again, huh? This seems to happen quiet a bit." She muttered to herself as she looked back at him, watching him retrace his steps to back in front of her. "Well, what did you want to talk to me about, Mikki?" He started off as she frowned slightly at him. "I want to know what you're planning. I know your up to something, ever since the past five years or so, you and my mother seemed to talk so urgently about something. I would like to know what." She put bluntly as she crossed her arms over her chest. He closed his eye and started to chuckle under his breath and Beatrice cawed at her, mocking her, as she tilted her head at him. "You've always had those hunches for secrets, just like your mother." He mused softly as he ran the back of his hand past her cheek, causing her to blush lightly. She looked at him with some irritation. "And you're not going to simply tell me, like always." She said bitterly before he slipped a finger over her lips, stopping her from making anymore words.

"You'll get your answers in time, but I believe you'll discover most of what you seek in the future." He told her as she grimaced under his finger. Mikki reached to remove his hand from her mouth only to have it caught by the hand she sought to move. "Swain?" He raised her eye brow at him as he held her hand for a moment before pulling her into him and holding her close. His arms held her tightly by the shoulders and waist as she looked up at him, looking for a reason of why on his face. Beatrice flew off Swain's shoulder and landed on the mantle away from them, just letting the two of them stand together as Swain held his hold on her. Mikki wiggled and tried pulling her hands up between them so she could push him away, but to no avail as she rested her head on his chest. "You throw me into such emotional turmoil when you do this, you know that?" She muttered at him indignantly. He chuckled again and raised the hand around her shoulders to the back of her head, petting her hair softly. "I know I do." He put simply as she groaned with frustration at his refusal to answer the real questions she wanted answered.

He was always close with her mother, that much she knew, but what happened between them stayed between them as she stood there in his arms, waiting for him to make his move. He moved slightly as she rotated in place while he walked around her, putting himself between her and the chair. She was pulled into his lap as he sat down, settling her upper body against his, aligning herself to him like he was to the chair. Her legs kind of draped over his knees slightly and her rear pulled tightly to his hips as he kept his hold to her own hips. Mikki gasped loudly at the feeling as she turned her head to face him and ended up meeting his lips through the bandana. "Swain! This isn't a game!" She yelled as she tried to pull herself off him, but was pulled back once more. "Perhaps not to you." He whispered back as a hand wrapped around her upper chest, holding her shoulder tightly. He leaned forward towards his hand and pulled the bandana off, exposing his mouth and nose as Mikki wiggled again in his grasp.

Again he catches her off guard, again he teases her. Again she fell for his trap. Swain nibbled at her ear gently as she tried to pull his arm off her shoulder weakly, her face heating from the teasing. He moved slowly down to the back of her neck as she felt his tongue lightly lick at her sensitive skin, causing her to shudder in his lap. She cried his name weakly as he pulled her face to his and kissed her directly this time. Her mind started to go into a haze as he pulled her closer into the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth slightly as she felt her own tongue try to push back at his. His hands started roaming while their mouths were engaged as she felt him gently rubbing at her average breasts lightly through her robes, pulling moans from her throat into the kiss.

Mikki stopped trying to pull his hands away as her hands gripped now at his robes around his legs, her face beet red with embarrassment and need. "What's wrong, Mikki?" He asked her teasingly as she gritted her teeth at him. Swain smirked and moved his head to nibble at her neck, making her gasp as he hit a nerve. His hands were now on her sides, gently massaging her body as she continue to shudder in his lap, before resting them on her hips again, lightly clawing through the fabric of her robe. Something in the back of her mind wanted her to use magic to get away, but a stronger urge suppressed the thought and let the man behind her slowly have his way. The twisted thoughts of paying a small price to learn what he knows compelled her to stay where she was as she reached a hand to his head, gently petting at what hair he still had. He smirked against her neck as he noticed this and gave her a sharp nip, making her gasp loudly at the pain and feeling her grip tighten on a handful of hair.

Swain slowly moved to get up, forcing Mikki to slide down his lap as he kept her facing away from him as they stood once more. Wrapping his hands once more around the small waist of the librarian, he nudged her to move down the halls to the stairs to the upstairs room. He kept up his little nips at her ears as he lead her up the steps, listening to her soft panting that grew with each step they took to his private room. Beatrice flew passed them and took her spot on the stand in the room as he pulled the door and lock it as well. Gently moving the librarian to sit on the edge of the bed, he stepped back and slowly removed his robe, letting her see the scars that lined his torso. He was still wearing a pair of black pants as he looked at her reaction to his undressing and grinned as she was blushing furiously, but still eyeing him with wary curiosity. "Interested?" He asked her as he stepped next to her and pulled her into another kiss.

Mikki wanted to touch those scars and learn what caused them as he held their kiss. Slowly reaching a hand to his chest, she slowly started feeling around the old wounds gently, feeling the distinct difference in texture between the scars and normal skin. He was playing to her thirst to know everything and she was falling for it, but it mattered not as he let her pet at his scars with care. Their kiss ended as he watched her have her way with his body as she started caressing with both of her small hands slowly over each scar. "I know you've seen much, but you never detail what transpired." She muttered softly as she looked up at him, stopping her hands for a while. He petted at her hair and pulled the tie off, letting her hair fall freely over her shoulders. "But it's the fact you don't know is makes you stay." He commented as she huffed at him, clawing at his chest. "That's so like you." She said through gritted teeth as he chuckled at her as his hands grabbed at her robe around her hips. "Stand up." He commanded her as she got up with his tug and pulled the robe up over her head, watching her hair fall into her face as she shuddered at the cold air that touched her skin.

She was still wearing an undershirt and panties along with knee high stockings, all black in color, making her skin seem much whiter than normal as she blushed embarrassingly at Swain. He tossed her robe on top of his as he moved to caress her slightly exposed sides, slowly setting her back down onto the bed "S-swain…" She moaned as she held onto his shoulders, almost like she was trying to fend him off again, but not very well. She was now leaning back on the bed as he crawled over her, placing a knee between her legs as he leaned over and kissed her deeply and slipped a hand under the shirt, lightly rubbing her bare skin. Mikki arced her back at the touch as he continued to trace his caulis fingers over her unmarred skin, breathing heavily as she looked up at him weakly. "P-please…" She started to say before gasping as he placed his free hand over her mouth, silencing her from further speech. He pressed his knee in between her legs causing her to shudder heavily at the touch.

"It's almost a shame to take you like this." He whispered in her ear as she shuddered under him. "Why then?" She gasped at him as he held her down and pulled his face to her's. "Because you're not strong enough." Was all he said before taking her protesting mouth into his, roughly feeling his teeth scrap against her lips before feeling his tongue enter her mouth. Not strong enough? Her mind reeled at the thought as he pressed on with his teasing to her body as she continued to arc herself into him with need she's never experienced before. He slipped off her undershirt and proceeded to tug away at her underwear, throwing her into a panic as she tried to close her legs to hold it in place. His leg was in the way as she watched him pull the underwear down off her legs, leaving her fully nude except for the stockings, but he left those alone as he adjusted his belt on his pant and started to undo them.

Mikki didn't know how to react to Swain's forwardness as she closed her eyes tightly, listening to the belt and pants hitting the floor in front of her and feeling him crawl back over her exposed body. He tilted her head up as she opened her eyes to meet his, too scared to even look down to his chest. Scared with an odd mix of anticipation showed on her face as Swain gently ran a hand over her cheek. "I'll try not to hurt you much." He whispered to her as he pulled back slightly and shifted her hips up to his, letting her feel what's to come. She gripped at the bedding below her as he lined up before pushing forward slightly. A rush of pain shot through her body as she tried to pull away only to be pulled back by his capable hands. "It's going to hurt more if you struggle." He growled at her as she weakly nodded, shaking heavily in his grasp as he pushed a little more, keeping a tight hold to her hips.

Tears of pain ran down her face in a steady stream as he continued to push more of his manhood into her, slowly breaking her hymen. Her hands wanted something more solid to dig her nail into as she cried out as he gave one last push into her. Looking up at him, she realized he was breathing heavily as he held himself still above her, fully sheathed inside her. A moment passed before he started to move, slowly thrusting into her raw passage as she cringed and moaned at him. He pulled her legs up around his hips, pulling her closer as he picked up the pace with his thrusts and kissed her roughly. Her hands finally reached up to his sides and clawed at him hard as the pain started to dim and leave a pleasurable sensation behind. The scratching only sped up his pace as her cries of pain slowly shifted to moans of need as he grunted above her, preparing both of them for the climax.

There was no turning back as he soon pulled her tightly to him as he gave one last thrust inside and released inside of her which put her over the edge as well, her whole body shuddering in his hold from the aftershocks. Swain gently rolled them to the side and held her shaking form close to him, pulling his blanket over them. It felt surreal to Mikki as she clutched at Swain's chest again in awe and shock as they both were breathing heavily from the intercourse. She felt sore from the waist down and groaned as she glanced up at him with tired eyes. He was watching her closely and petted her hair softly and kissed her forehead. "How do you feel?" He asked her as she just growled at him. "I hurt." She muttered at him as she felt him chuckle. "It only happens the first time." She stared at him with irritated eyes as she shifted in his grip. "I fell for it." She muttered as she stared at his chest. He wrapped the blanket tighter around them. "But you let yourself fall for it." He told her as she bumped her head into his shoulder. "So many years, yet I still get caught up in your games, Swain. But I can't help but be caught up for any chance I might learn something about you." Her quiet rant earned her a quick pat on the head.

"You're just like your mother, always need to know." He mused softly. Mikki tried to stifle a yawn but couldn't as she pulled herself closer into him for warmth. "I wake up only to get tired after one activity." She said sleepily as Swain nodded. "Go ahead and sleep. You'll need your rest after what's happened tonight." He told her as she curled more against him and dropped off to sleep almost instantly. Swain on the other hand watched her sleep in peace as he grimaced slightly at what he had done, but it was for the best. Rune magic was meant for highly emotional users and Mikki's was just a held back, watered down version that was dampened further due to her calmer, passive emotions. Breaking her was his key to having one of the most powerful magic type on his side. When the time comes, she'll realize just how much more she's become his to control.


	21. Chapter 20: Damaged

Chapter 20: Damaged

A scratch of a pen was heard from across the room as Mikki stirred from her exhausted state. She was buried under the covers and clutching tightly to a pillow as she slowly poked her head out to see where the noise was coming from, seeing Swain fully dressed once more at his writing desk, scribbling away on a sheet of paper. Beatrice noticed she was moving and cawed at her, making her ears ring once more. Swain turned his head towards her as she blinked a couple times to get the sleep out of her eyes and rubbed at them with her small hand. "I would suggest you get something to eat and clean up before you decide to fall back asleep." He told her. All she could do as nod as she sat up and stretched, feeling every muscle in her body twitch and contract in pain and stiffness. He was still watching her when she glanced back at him and wonder what he was staring at so amusingly till it hit her. "Dammit, Swain, look the other way!" She yelled at him as she pulled the blanket over her still bare body and glanced around for her clothes.

Swain was smirking under his bandana as he listened to her grumble and shift under the covers, looking for her stockings. He turned back to what he was writing as Mikki finally slipped out of bed and gathered her clothes that now sat on the night stand. "Um, is it alright if I just use a bath here?" Mikki asked him cautiously as he raised his free hand in response. "Right behind you." He said as he kept up with his writing. He heard her pad away and open the door to the master bathroom and closed the door. Running water sounded as he topped off his letter to the Noxian councilmen and sealed it with wax. Swain pulled down another sheet of paper and started writing a note for the librarian and slipped it under the door to the bathroom before turning to leave the bedroom with Beatrice on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Mikki soaked in the hot water, easing her sore body and mind from last night's romp. The scene played over and over, making her physically sick to her stomach on how easily he got to her. Curiosity was truly a curse to be feared. The sound of a slip of paper sounded from the door as she watched it get pushed through to her and listened to the footsteps walking away from the door as she figured Swain was going out somewhere. She grimaced as she moved to get out of the bath and dried off, still a little stiff and bow legged as she dressed back into her robes. After fixing up her hair, Mikki bent down and picked up the note from Swain and read it slowly. _"You should teleport back to the library to avoid being seen leaving here. While I'm sure some saw you arrive, I want them to think you left in the late hours of the night while people were sleeping." _Thinking of everything, that's just what he does as she sighed and walked out of the bathroom to the bedroom and used the pen he left on the desk to scribble a note under his own. _"I understand and will have done so by the time you read this." _She thought for a moment before setting the note and pen back down on the table.

Standing in the middle of his room, she set up her usual purple rune under her and set her destination to her own room. While the change to a familiar room put her at ease, she still felt as though she lost herself yesterday. Her frustration seemed gone as well as she mulled about her own room, sitting on her bed and staring at the ceiling of the library. The dull chatter downstairs made it clear that no matter what transpired last night will not affect the activity in the library. Her stomach growled loudly, almost threatening to burn through her to get what it wants as she sat back up and slowly made her way to the kitchen downstairs. She was greeted by some of the patrons and her employees as she walked to the kitchen. "So where you walk off to yesterday?" Rosaley asked curiously as she followed Mikki around the kitchen area, helping out where she could. "Just around Noxus. It's been a while since I had such a long stroll through town." She told her as she fixed up a egg sandwich to eat.

Rosaley tilted her head then grinned at her employer deviously. "I bet you went to go see the master tactician, didn't you?" She prodded as Mikki stared at her with some amount of shock, which only confirmed Rosaley's question. "For business, yes." Mikki told her as she started eating at her sandwich. The red head continued to grin at Mikki as she ate away at her sandwich. "Shouldn't you be working right now?" Mikki questioned her back as the grin slipped to a pout. "Oh come on, why won't you tell me?" She was sitting on the edge of her seat, wanting to know every juicy detail from Mikki. "Because you should be working on getting that line of patrons with their books all checked out." She pointed out as Rosaley huffed and left the kitchen, leaving Mikki to sigh heavily at the release of being questioned about her personal life and soon finished eating her sandwich.

It was early afternoon when Ryze walked through the front doors to visit. "It's good to see you again. How have you been?" Mikki asked him as they walked around the library slowly. "Good. I've been meaning to ask you if you could set some time aside so I can study the magic you use?" He asked her as she smiled lightly and nodded. "Of course, I'm taking today off if you'd like to go ahead and ask away and what you'd like to know." She told him, happy to get her mind off the plaguing thoughts of earlier. They stepped out and walked around the back of the library to the evergreen forest as Ryze asked her to explain the various colors of runes and what they do. "Well, you've seen my green healing rune, purple teleport rune and the rare red stun rune as I recall." She mused to herself as he nodded in agreement. "Yes, though, there are others I believe, correct?" He questioned as they walked about the edge of the outlining forest area behind the library. "Of course. Though, I really must ask why now of all times to ask me about this?" She counter questioned him as he crossed his arms loosely. "Well, I've been busy studying other's magic that it slipped my mind for a bit till recently."

Something pulled at the back of her mind as she listened to Ryze's answer as they continued to walk out through the forest pathways. Mikki noticed they reached the edge of the safeguard spell that surrounds the library as she turned to look at the man next to her, but was pulled just out of range of the pacifism spell and was wrapped up in a chain. At the end of the magical chain was none other than LeBlanc, grinning devilishly at her as the spell snapped and stunned Mikki where she stood. "I should have known." She growled at the deceiver "Should have, but too late, librarian." She remarked as she knocked Mikki further away from the barrier edge and set up another chain, stronger than the last as Mikki screamed at the pain of it breaking and stunning her down again. "I've warned you and you didn't listen like the little fool that you are." She continued as she knocked her staff across the librarian's face, leaving a giant staff shaped bruise on the left side of her face. A small line of blood trickled down her mouth from the cut inside of her mouth as Mikki stared angrily at LeBlanc. "Are you truly that upset over this that you'd stalk me and make sure I don't get close to him?" She inquired as she sat knelled down in front of LeBlanc.

LeBlanc only giggled evilly as she watched the librarian struggle to stand again. Before Mikki was able to stand, LeBlanc placed a foot on her right hand and slowly crushed it under heel, listening to the young librarian scream once more in pain. "It matters not now, does it?" She leaned over and pulled Mikki's face up to face her as she inspected the bruise she made with delight. "You're not leaving here as of now." She muttered as she kicked at Mikki's shoulder, pushing her further into the forest line as gasps and groans of pain came from the librarian's mouth. She flashed on the injured girl before her, causing more damage to her legs and torso as she stood there, watching her writhe in pain. "What's wrong? Cat's got your tongue?" She mused as she grinded her heel again into the right shoulder, hearing it pop loudly under the pressure as Mikki tried to pull out from under the heel. LeBlanc's staff settled itself on Mikki's chest, holding her there as the girl gasped loudly, staring up at the woman that's torturing her.

The pain was much worse than she imagined as she laid in the weeded forest line under the deceiver's heel and staff. She knew for sure her hand was broken and her shoulder dislocated from it's socket and started coughing heavily from the pressure on her chest, spitting up blood that pooled in her mouth from the cut. "Le-LeBlanc…s-stop this." She gasped at her as she continued to laugh at the sorry state she was in. The staff moved off her chest, but only for a moment before slamming back down onto her other shoulder, not quite dislocating that one, but still painful all the same as she cried out. "I don't think so. You'd be better off if you just stay here and rot with some of the fallen trees around her." She said darkly as she moved back to inspect her work on Mikki. There was no way she could move to get up at this point as she was on the verge of passing out from all the pain. With another laugh, she flashed back onto the librarian, waking her up with more pain as she glanced down at the torn and broken form of the librarian. "You look much better this way. On the edge of death just outside your little sanctuary." Mikki couldn't keep her eyes open as she leaned her head back against the ground and stared blankly at the branches above her.

A snap in the distance sounded from further in the forest as LeBlanc was about slam her staff back down into the girl's chest, startling her a bit. "I think you're going to be the next meal for the beasts out here. You're in no condition to move and you're openly bleeding which will make it much easier for them to find you." She said snidely as she flashed away, no longer to be heard. Even with the amount of will power she had left to stay awake, she couldn't tell if the person or beast was getting closer or not as she continued to stare up, looking beaten to a bloody pulp and extremely tired of being in so much pain. Another snap sounded a bit closer as she closed her eyes and cried weakly as she couldn't move her arms at all. She heard a slight chuckle from somewhere above her head as the steps now became more audible to her. "What's this, a child all beaten and torn and left to die?" The person said softly as she groaned and cracked her eyes open to see a man dressed in red step just slightly over her head, his pure white hair floating about his pail face as he watched her curiously. "Oh, I see you're not quite dead yet. Perhaps I came just in time?" He inquired as she tried to nod, but only succeeding in groaning at the pain of any movement.

He reached a clawed hand and pulled the blood that stained her robes and hair and slowly rotated the blood around his hands before letting flow down into Mikki's mouth, where she felt the blood slip back into the cut in small amounts and clot up as she felt less lightheaded but still in immense pain. "You look better, but sadly this is all I could do. Your physical injures are not something I can fix." He mused to her as she groaned at the fact. "Y-you're able to manipulate blood. You must be Vladimir." She muttered at the man as he bowed at the acknowledgement. "You'd be correct, miss. Now, who might you be, just to be fair?" He asked her curiously as Mikki tried nodding again, but winced in pain. "Mikki Halsnight." She put simply as she continued to look up at him with dull eyes. "Halsnight, such a lovely name." He smiled to himself as he moved around her, continuing to look her over. "Judging by that bruise, I say a certain Deceiver did this to you, correct?" Mikki could only sigh in response. "Yes."

Vlad stood still for a moment as he thought for a moment before looking over the broken librarian. "I guess I could take you to Noxus and help you get medical attention." He said as Mikki tried to smile at the idea. "If you could. I would be in your debt." She said to him gently as he moved to her side and slowly picked her up, princess style as she winced and cried a bit at her arm swinging loosely. He pulled her arm over her stomach to keep it from doing so as he dashed through the forest at a rate she never experience except in a carriage. They easily sped past the library as Vladimir continued his trek through the streets of Noxus and arrived at the Medical Center. As he neared the emergency door, they opened on their own and walked in to see patients and nurses alike staring at the sight of him holding a battered girl in his arms. He quickly got her checked in and left her to the doctors as they worked hard to reset the bones in her hand and pulled her arm back into it's socket. Thankfully, her legs and chest only suffered heavy bruising as well like her face as the nurses gently covered her with healing suave to ease the pain and to hopefully heal the bruises faster.

It was the middle of the night when everything was said and done as the doctors wanted to keep her over night to observe her to see if anything else was wrong with her as she leaned back into the uncomfortable hospital bed and sighed heavily. Her right hand was all covered to the point of not being able to move even her fingers and her shoulder being held by a splint to make sure it stays still while she sleeps. She thought the soreness from this morning was rough, this took the cake in her books as she laid there in pain, covered in smelly suave and unable to move to get comfortable. She wonder if she'd be able to have a message sent to the library, letting her assistants know that she won't be there again tomorrow or for a while yet as her shoulder heals up.

Mikki was about to drift off until she heard a click of the door opening to the room as she glanced weakly to see who it was. The tap of a cane announced who it was to her immediately as she sighed heavily and turned her head a bit more to see him properly. "Who did this to you?" Quick and to the point, like always as she huffed at him. "Not even a 'how do you feel' before the serious stuff." She muttered at him as he stepped up to her right side, looking at the cast and suave that covered half her face. "Later. So, who was it?" He pressed as she closed her eyes at him. "LeBlanc. She warned me not to get close and said she'd make me regret it." She told him as he glanced at her face, his own not telling her how he felt about this as she looked up at him. "I guess she did make you regret it." He whispered as Mikki shook her head at him. "No, she just beat me up and left me for dead, not make me regret anything." She said to him as he gazed at her with a raised eye brow. "Oh?" She smiled and nodded. "I regret nothing. She should have known I don't care about what happens to me." She mused as she chuckled lightly and winced.

Swain ran a hand through her hair as she looked up at him curiously. "You worried about me?" She asked him gently as he closed his eyes, hiding from her. "I'll be fine, though, could you do me a favor and let my employees that I won't be at the library for the next several days due to injuries?" She really wanted to let them know herself, but seeing as she can't move, Swain was plan B. He nodded at her as he bid her farewell for the night. Alone again, Mikki soon resumed drifting into her dull pained sleep.


	22. Chapter 21: Worrying Minds

Chapter 21: Worrying Minds

Three days passed as Mikki stayed at the medical center getting checked over and over as her shoulder stopped throbbing in pain from being put back and the bruises slowly fading out, but still visible in some spots. Her right hand, on the other hand, had to stay in the cast, seeing as LeBlanc broke most of the bones in the center and probably will take months to heal. After speaking with the nurse about payment and getting discharged from the hospital, Mikki slowly made her way back to the Grand Noxus Library, her right arm in a sling to keep her hand up for the next week or so. The hospital was kind enough to patch up her robes and wash them as she forgot to ask if she could get someone to grab a clean set from her home. Thankfully, the walk wasn't far as she felt drained from moving so much after staying still while in care and upon reaching the library where she was greeted by a small group of familiar, friendly champions and her employees. "Welcome home, Mikki!"

All the usual champions that visited were here: Ezreal, Lux, Ryze and Nasus and her assistants all with grins of triumph. Mikki figured they'd try something for her return as she smiled weakly at them and bowed slowly in response. "Thank you, everyone. It's good to be home." She stepped forward towards the group as they pulled her into a tight group hug, minus, Ryze and Nasus. "Easy, still a little on the injured side." She muttered as they looked at her hand in the sling. "What happen the other day?" Rosaley asked before being interrupted by Saline. "Grand General Swain came by in the morning and let us know that you were hospitalized and that you won't be returning for a few days but wouldn't tell us what happened." Jean nodded to this as well as the others also looked at Mikki curiously for her answers to everything. "It's best not to worry about it." She told them as a couple of them tilted their heads in irritation that she wouldn't say a word about it.

She was truly grateful for all the support and welcome, but she really needed to get changed into less patchy clothes. Mikki asked Lux if she would help her out with putting her clean robes on, seeing as her right arm is out of commission at the moment. Lux agreed and followed her up to her room and helped her get the sling and tattered robes off and helped her slip into a newer set of robes. "Wow, who ever did this really did a lot to you." Lux commented as she saw the bruises on her back and sides. Mikki nodded lightly as she pulled the robe over her head and painfully slipped her right arm through the sleeve. "I should be fine in about a week." They smiled at each other as Lux pulled up the collar on Mikki's robes up around her neck and adjusted the sling. "There, all set." Mikki ran her left hand over her hair as she looked into the mirror to see it flow past her shoulders and nodded. "Yes." Together, they left her room and walked back down as Lux led her straight to the west wing kitchen where the others wondered off to and saw a two layer stacked cake with icing that reads 'Get Well Soon, Mikki!'

"Aww, you guys shouldn't have." She said as she walked up to it and looked it over. "Did you guys make this?" They each gave her a bit of a guilty 'we didn't' grin before Ezreal replied. "We got Morgana to bake it for us at her bakery." Mikki chuckled at the thought and smiled at them all. "Well, let's not waste it then. Pull out the cake knife and lets have at it." In no time at all, the cake lost it's first layer to the group and the rest easily taken by fellow patrons who helped pitch in to pay for it. It was a chocolate cake base with a marshmallow frosting decorated with blue and red icing along the edges and was the fluffiest cake she ever had yet. Though, she had to keep her plate on the table and fumbled with each piece using her left hand for the first time. "This is going to take time to get used to." She muttered between mouthfuls as everyone chuckled. At one point, she nearly dropped the plate and Ez picked up her plate to keep it from falling and started feeding each piece to her himself as she stood there, embarrassed but still grateful for the help. Mikki could hear the sinister chuckles coming from her assistants while this was going on.

With the cake gone, each of the champions and assistants each split up and started working around the library as Mikki tried to keep up and help out were she could, but with her right hand out of commission, she really couldn't do much except hold a single book and only place them on the shelves that are her height. With a resigned sigh, she took up her spot behind the Information and Checkout counter and watched as Saline worked the checkout line this time. It was only mid afternoon as she placed single books into piles along the counter for Jean and Rosaley to place back into their sections, looking up on occasion to check for anyone that might have questions. She was slow even with that as Saline tapped her shoulder lightly and whispered, "You have someone that wants to talk to you." With a jolt, Mikki looked up and saw a slightly familiar person in purple robes, lined with gold trim and the Adjudicator's symbol on the helm of his hood.

He pulled his hood back to reveal his hazel eyes and signature goatee as he smiled lightly at the librarian. "It's been a while, Miss Halsnight." Irannius said to her kindly as she smiled back and nodded. "It really has been a while since your last visit here. How are you doing?" She asked him gently as she stood up to walk out from around the counter to see him better. Long since discarding the Noxian robes that were given to him, he joined the Adjudicators shortly after the spat he had with Swain. "I've been well. Must less stressed out than from the last time we spoke." He told her as she tilted her head at him. "That's good. So what brings you here curiously, Irannius?" She inquired as he motioned to walk with him to an upstairs study room. "I wanted to see how you were doing, though, judging how you didn't notice my presence till your new assistant pointed me out, I'd say you've got a lot on your mind." He replied, looked at her right arm that hung in her sling. "And you've seen some action lately as well, I take it?" He mused at her as she gave him a sigh that told him his question was correct. "Just a broken hand, nothing to be too concerned about." She told him softly as they walked into an empty private study room and closed the door behind them.

Irannius glanced once more at her right arm and tilted his head. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" Mikki shrugged at him and sat on the bench. "You and everyone else wants to know." She muttered as he stepped up beside her and sat down next to her. "Why protect someone that caused you harm? Shouldn't you at least let me know so that I can help you get the justice you deserve?" He pressed on to her as she grimaced at the floor, holding tightly to her cast hand with her good hand. "I appreciate the help you're willing to give me, but I don't think making them pay for this will do any good." She muttered softly as she closed her eyes thought. He raised an eye brow at her before patting her head gently. "You're more of a masochist than a pacifist if you're willing to take the pain and not return it in kind." She glanced at him and sighed at him. "I can't believe you called me a masochist." Irannius chuckled at the response as he pulled his hand away. "At least you're more responsive than any other Noxian I've spoken to. Much kinder as well." She huffed lightly and gave a slight smirk at him as she looked up at the time. "It's getting time to close up."

He looked at the clock as well and nodded as he stood up and offered her a hand to help her up as well. "Before I take my leave, may I ask if you're still seeing the Grand General on a regular basis still since his rise?" Mikki took his hand as he pulled her up onto her feet as she nodded lightly. "Hard not to when he enjoys disturbing me once a week at least." She replied honestly as he grimaced at the thought. They moved out of the study and slowly made their way back down to the lobby in awkward silence. Irannius glanced at the librarian's face and spied the left over bruises from LeBlanc's staff and frowned slightly before they reached the front doors. "You try and be more careful from now on, alright?" He asked as Mikki nodded to him. "I'll try but no guarantees." She told him as he sighed at her. "You've known him from the start of this yet you still follow him, why is that?" He asked her as honestly as he could as she shrugged at him again. "Cause I seek to know things that others wouldn't know. Curiosity is truly a curse to be feared sometimes." She told him as he stared at her in disbelief and shook his head. "You are the most tenacious librarian I've ever met with the thirst for knowledge the size of the Guardian's Sea." He remarked as he bowed to her to take his leave. Mikki waved as he walked out before taking her rounds through the library to gather the rest of the patrons for closing time.

It was getting much darker sooner as winter was getting closer with each passing day as the library was closed much sooner, a routine that happens each year around this time. A week passed as Mikki paid the hospital a visit to have them give her the okay to remove the sling and let her arm move freely by her side again and had some of the cast shortened around her fingers so she could grip things again, but not too big of items like books. With the weather getting much colder, she started setting up the lobby fire place at the south end of the library as patrons and employees sat around it to warm up during the morning and late afternoon hours. Jean stepped up to Mikki during the last hour before closing and tapped her shoulder gently as she turned to face him with a curious face. "Need something, Jean?" She asked him as he looked around, a bit flustered before knelling down next to her by the fire place. "I was wonder if we're going to decorate for the holiday in the coming weeks?" He asked her slowly as his eyes shifted around a bit uncomfortably as she tilted her head at him and frowned a bit. "Of course we will, but why are you so nervous?" She asked him as he looked at her, his cheeks flushed red. "Well, since we are….um….can we hang up some mistletoe around the library for the 'potential' couples this holiday?" He fumbled as he looked off into the fire, fidgeting slightly as Mikki gave him a slight chuckle. "Maybe. We'll see with we get the decorations out." He nodded as he shuffled away back to his duties as she chuckled lightly at the thought of who he might be crushing on.

Ten minutes till closing time is when Mikki started letting the patrons know that she was closing up for the night. As she drifted back to the front, she caught sight of Swain standing in front of the fireplace, Beatrice sitting still on her master's shoulder, watching her closely as she sighed and walked up to him to greet him. "Five till closing time and you show up now." She said to him as he looked down at her right arm then back to her face. "I see you recovered a bit from the assault." He replied back to him and Mikki crossed her arms awkwardly in front of her. "You're here to tell me something, I know that, but it'll have to wait till the library's closed." She muttered at him as he gave her a curt nod and walked upstairs to the top floor, his presence intimidating the straggling patrons that were heading down to the front. After she watched the last of them leave, Mikki locked up the front door and made her way up to where Swain was. He was standing in front of her apartment door as she moved to open and let him inside and followed suit.

She took a seat on the edge of her bed as he took her chair from the writing desk and turned it around so he could face her. "You are truly naïve to let LeBlanc lead you away from the library like she did." He stated as Mikki sighed at him. "I already know this." She murmured softly as she slouched slightly, letting her forearms rest on her legs. The cast made her arm seem bulky to her as she sighed a bit. "Don't let this happen again. If she or anyone else catches you off guard like this again, you might die the next time." He told her sternly as she winced at the force in his voice, grimacing at the floor. "I more than likely won't leave the library for a long while, Swain. I've caused and sustained enough damage to last me a year at best." She told him as he continued to watch her closely. Her eyes dropped to the floor in embarrassment and exhaustion as she flexed her fingers on her right hand and winced again. "Two months they said before I can get this off." She told him softly as she heard him stand up and walked next to her, taking her right side on the edge of the bed.

He slipped his hand over her cast and interlaced his fingers in between her's, which made her blush as she glanced at him with wary curiosity. His hand was warm which made her thankful cause her fingers were cold from lack of being near her body. She bent her fingers as best she could over his hand as he used his other hand to raise her chin to face him. He pulled her close as her head collided with his shoulder, letting him stroke at her lengthy hair as she sighed in relief. It was odd to see him this affectionate while not over doing it with sex, but she didn't mind as she nuzzled at his shoulder gently, letting him know she appreciates the attention this time. "Thank you." She whispered as she glanced up at him, watching his red eyes for a reaction as he closed them and held her head close to his shoulder. She giggled slightly, figuring she was perhaps one of the rare few people who get to see a gentle Swain when no one else is looking.

She squeezed her right hand fingers gently as he slowly released her from the cuddle. "I need a teleport rune to my home, if you would." He told her as she gently nodded as he moved off her bed and stood in the middle of her apartment. With little effort, the familiar rune glowed under Swain's feet and watched as he and Beatrice disappeared from her home. With a wave of her hand, the left over rune dissipated as she leaned back onto her bed and sighed. Everyone worries about her, but they don't realize she worries back all the same as she rolled to her left side and pulled a pillow to set her right arm on top of as she dozed off to sleep.

_~The sky was covered in dark clouds as they thundered loudly above her head as she gazed at the dry landscape before her. Once again, wielding a heavy oak staff and dress in Noxian battle robes, she stood and concentrated on what she was feeling in the air. It felt thick with magic, almost to the point of smothering her with it as she felt her blood boil at the raw energy that licked at her skin through the thick clothes. Opening her eyes, she noticed her right hand was covered with a strange silver plated glove with a unknown rune design as she moved her hand and formed a blue rune in the air instead of placing it on a surface like she normally had to. She was entranced by this glove, but she had no idea where it came from or who made such a unique artifact as she was able to freely move her fingers like they were bare and the glove flexed with her wrist as well. The silver plating only covering the back hand side of the black cloth of the glove while the fingers were exposed at the edge of the last knuckle of each finger. With her curiosity running high with this new item, she placed the staff in the crook of her left arm and let her left hand gently touch the sliver lining. A jolt was sent through her mind as she passed out from the shock.~_

_**A/N: A special shout out for Dargonax for letting me make a cameo with his character, Irannius, from The Black Rose Letters. Thank you very much.**_


	23. Chapter 22: Holiday Spirit

Chapter 22: Holiday Spirit

Early December, 22 CLE Institute of War

Standing in a plainly adorned room, the Adjudicator faced the ever regal LeBlanc who looked angry and upset at the floor as she stood there, motionless and waiting. "I saw what you did to the librarian. You deliberately disobeyed my order to not have her harmed." He growled at her as she looked up at the man before her and sneered darkly. "This isn't about you anymore, Irannius. It's about us achieving the same goal." She spat as she rotated her staff and placed it on the ground, taking a commanding stance. "If you don't want her to end up as his cute little pawn, she'd be better off dead." She sneered as the Adjudicator shook his head at her. "What you don't understand, LeBlanc, is that she's the key. You attacked her out of petty jealousy which just made what we had planned that much harder to do." He explained to her as she crossed her arms in front of her. "We both know Jericho is up to something that involves that infernal child of a librarian, so why not just destroy the piece he needs? Or are you scared you'll end up just like him when you do?" She mused at him snidely, tilting her head ever so slightly as she narrowed her eyes at him.

He glanced at the Deceiver and glared menacingly at her which made her back up slightly. "I said no. If I know the Grand General, he'll have some protection around her besides the pacifism spell that lingers around the library. Miss Halsnight probably told him exactly who caused her harm, which means you need to stay out of sight of either of them." He told her as she grimaced at the thought of being set aside till the dust settles. Swain did him an injustice during his time at the Institute of War for the first year since his coming to the League, using Irannius to do the physical work while he reaped the rewards. He was sick of it and only recently before the Kalamanda battle is when he found out Mikki was also just another piece to the Grand General's scheme. How she still manages to put up with the man was beyond his comprehension, but with the knowledge he gained from the practice summoning gave him some clarity as to why she stays. She was naïve and her wonton curiosity will soon get her into more trouble with Swain than he cared to imagine as he shook his head at the thoughts.

LeBlanc was behind him, tapping her foot impatiently as he was lost in thought. "You should have known I would go to such extremes to discourage her from staying next to Jericho, child." She told him as she watched him turn back around to face her. "Why don't you try and talk to her yourself next time if you didn't want her to be left for dead." LeBlanc lightly stepped up to him, placing the tip of her staff under his chin and lifting it slightly so that they were eye to eye. Irannius gave an involuntary gulp as she did this, making her grin with satisfaction that he was nervous with this contact. "I'm sure you'll be able to talk to her easily, such an innocent and naïve girl that she is. Just let her know that you have her best interest at heart. I'm sure you'll be fine." She whispered softly as she pulled away and started heading for the exit. "I'll be taking a little down time for myself so don't bother trying to get a hold of me for a while." She told him as she disappeared through the door, leaving Irannius alone as he moved to slump down into a chair. He was going to have to come up with a very good reason soon and time wasn't on his side.

Mid December, 22 CLE, Grand Noxus Library, present time.

The holidays were upon them. Decorations were brought out and evenly spaced out around the library as Mikki and her employees each worked in pairs stringing the lights and decorative streamers around the stair railings and placing reefs on the doors. "Mikki, we need to get a tree, too!" Rosaley said to Mikki as they hung little stockings over the fireplace for each of them. Mikki gave a small 'ah' at the reminder as she looked around the library. "I guess I could see if Gragas will help out again this year." She said softly as Rosaley jumped happily in place. "Yes, yes, yes! Let's get a big one. It can stand right…." She moved about a good ten feet from the fireplace and jumped into the spot. "Here!" Mikki chuckled as she gauged the would be height of the tree and if it'll fit through the double doors from up front. "Of course." Mikki wrapped her left hand over her right hand fingers, trying to warm them up again as they moved on to the next room to decorate there.

It was a simple lounge room for those that want to be in a more casual position to read on the couches and benches spread around the room. It was here the Mikki and Rosaley spied Swain and Beatrice sitting in one of the more firmer chairs, reading away at a novel as they walked into the room. "He's been visiting a lot lately." Rosaley whispered to Mikki as she sighed softly in agreement. "I guess he's been in the 'mood' to read." She slipped in as Mikki coughed at what she was insinuating. The red head laughed at Mikki's reaction which, in turn, drew Swain's attention as Mikki gently tapped Rosaley's head with the back of her cast hand. "No more of that. We got decorations to set up." She muttered hastily as they carried the boxes to one side of the room and started setting up more of the streamers along the ceiling edge. Swain watched from the corner of his eye as the two girls placed up the festive decorations along the walls, Beatrice cawing every now and again, making Mikki jump each time and turn around to glare irritably at the raven. Rosaley seemed to find this interaction very amusing as she kept giggling, even well after the raven stopped bothering them from finishing up the décor around the lounge room.

Jean and Saline were both finished long before Mikki and Rosaley as they waited for the two of them by the Information and Checkout counter, awaiting further instructions. "Well, as Rose pointed out earlier, we'll need to get a Christmas tree to place near the fireplace." Mikki told the group as Rosaley smiled happily. "But where do you get the tree from each year?" Jean asked curiously as Saline nodded as well. Mikki smiled lightly, "I usually ask Gragas to help pick out and bring back a tree and with the day still young, I think I'll take the trip out and get the tree back before closing." She replied as they each grinned at each other, but a question arose from Saline. "How do you get the tree here? I thoroughly doubt you drag it here yourself." She said as she looked to the head librarian for the answer. Mikki smiled mischievously, "I get Gragas to bring it here, of course. I'm a bit on the weak side to be dragging big pine trees to the library each year." Without another word from her employees, she instructed they watch the library as she strolled back to the lounge room where Swain was still reading.

She gave a small cough to draw his attention up to her as she stood in front of him and his raven. "I would like to have your company to Gragas's home so that I may ask him to help procure a tree for the main room." Swain looked her over as she had her right hand under her arm to keep her fingers warm, then nodded, placing the book down on the small table next to him. "You're learning, that's good." He whispered to her as she huffed at him as they strolled out to the front of the library. "You wanted to make sure I don't get attacked again, what better way to ensure that doesn't happen than to have you stay by my side." She muttered at him as she started casting a teleport rune to the outskirts of the Rabble Rouser's home. With the rune finished, they were swiftly transported to an open area just south of Noxus and a little east of the library where they spotted the humble abode of the brewing rabble rouser. Mikki smile then noticed the clouds darken slightly above them. "Think it'll snow while we walk back?" She asked as they moved to the front door of Gragas's home. Swain said nothing as Mikki knocked on the door and stepped back, listening for any noise behind the wooden door.

There was a bang and a crash as a great yell of "I'm comin'!" came from the other side as Mikki chuckled lightly. A click signaled he made it to the door as it swung forward and revealed the giant man with robe wrapped about his arms and bare chest. "Eh, well if it isn' the girl from the library." He slurred as Mikki nodded and bowed as Swain stood his ground next to her as Gragas gave him a scowl of dislike. "Wha do you want, girly?" He asked gruffly as Mikki straightened up and looked up at the large man's bearded face. "It's close to the holidays and I was hoping you'd help me get a tree to the library like last year?" She asked him clearly as he chuckled and took a swig of his drink straight from the barrel at his side then wiped his mouth off with his thick arm. "O' course. Let me get a couple more barrels for the trip." He replied as he twisted around and picked up a couple more barrels and strapped them to his back before waving his hand to indicate to her to lead the way.

They set off down a worn dirt path into the woods that surround Gragas's slice of paradise as Mikki, followed closely by Swain, lead Gragas to the area where she found last year's tree. While it took a good thirty minutes to get there, the whole trip was only accompanied by their heavy footsteps and the surrounding birds chirping in the distance as no one spoke the whole way. The awkward silence made Mikki nervous as she glance between the tactician and the rabble rouser, both ignoring one another as they followed her to the spot. The area was filled with perfect Christmas trees of all sizes, each one just waiting to picked on for a new home. With the measurement of the spot fresh in her mind, Mikki scanned around for that right tree that'll fit in the library till she reached a shaggy twelve foot pine tree and smiled. "Found one." She said as she looked to Gragas who took it as a queue to get ready to knock it down, waiting for her to move out of range of any falling path of the tree.

He readied one of the barrels he had strapped to his back and rolled it to the base of the tree, letting it sit there for a moment before a loud crack sounded as the barrel exploded, splitting the base of the tree. Another moment passed before the tree started leaning over, slowly falling over where the barrel was as it landed with a resounding thud that made Mikki jump slightly while Gragas and Swain weren't affected. "How do you two do it?" She muttered as she looked at the two of them as Swain said nothing and Gragas gave her a drunken laugh. "You see, girly, we deal with this sort of thing all the time. No loud noises will make us jump." Gragas replied as she nodded and moved around the tree to make sure it was fully split off from the base. "It's all good. Let's bring it back to the teleport rune in front of your place and we'll head back from there." She said as Gragas walked up to the base of the freshly fallen tree and hefted the end up and started pulling it from the direction they came from.

Swain stuck to Mikki's side as Gragas trudged ahead of them with the tree. "How did you manage to convince him to do this last time?" He asked her as she rubbed at her right hand fingers to ward off the cold that started to build up. "That's my secret to keep." She muttered at him as he looked at her with raised eye brows as Beatrice cawed at her for not answering. "Hey, now, be nice." She told Beatrice as the raven shook her feathers in response. The walk back was just as silent as they returned to the open area around Gragas's home, finding the glowing purple rune and using it to teleport back all three of them and the tree to the library. With their arrival, patrons and people who were just passing by looked on the sight of two champions, a librarian and a tree appear out of thin air as Mikki and Swain moved to prop open the doors to the library. With a grunt, the rabble rouser pulled the tree into the main hall of the library, trailing pine needles across the ground as he moved to where Rosaley was bouncing in place earlier that morning. "That at a do it," He said as he dusted off his burly hands from the bark as Mikki bowed to him happily. "Yes, thank you so much for this, Gragas." She thanked him as he gave her a chuckle and a pat on the head.

"Oh, don't forget this." He pulled the last barrel that was strapped to his back and handed it to her. She tried to hold it up, but the weight made it difficult as she leaned forward with the barrel as it landed on the ground and her flopped over it. Jean and Rosaley pulled Mikki up off the barrel as Saline pulled the barrel upright as they bowed to Gragas as well. "Now, don't go hoggin' the holiday brew for yerself." He told her as Mikki nodded in compliance. "Never do. We'll all enjoy it." With that, she moved to the Information and Checkout counter and pulled out payment for his help as she offered it to him. "Here's for helping out with the tree and the barrel of brew." He gladly accepted and ruffed up her hair a bit with his big hand before walking out of the library to head home. Mikki tried to straighten out her hair as she looked to her crew and nodded. "We'll decorate it once we sweep up the needles it tracked in." With a collective aw, they set off for brooms and dust pans to start cleaning up the path of pine needles.

Beatrice flew off Swain's shoulder and took a place in the now standing tree, cawing happily at a new spot to sit as Mikki turned to Swain. "Well, surprised you get to witness how this tree gets here each holiday season?" She asked him curiously as he gave her a silent shrug and moved to head back to the lounge room. The reaction wasn't something she wanted to see as she moved to follow him, then bumped into him as he stopped in the entryway and looked up. Curious on what he was looking at, Mikki tilted her head back to see a pile of leave together with red berries clustered together in groups of three or more tied off with a red ribbon hanging in the ark way. "Wait, when did they…" Her sentence was cut off as Swain pulled her close with one hand and quickly lowering his bandana with the other and pulled her into a tight kiss, hiding his lower face with her head from everyone else. Sounds of gasps and ahhhs could be heard as they kissed in under the mistletoe as Mikki felt her face flush red with the public affection.

Swain ended the kiss and pulled his bandana back up before straightening himself upright and pulling the flustered librarian into the lounge room. "It seems you have some mischievous assistants that wanted a reason to see their employer kissed." He mused as she stuttered and kept looking around at the patrons that were looking at the two of them with either shock or glee. "We didn't have to do that, you realize this?" She whispered at him urgently as he looked at the patrons as well. The summoners and students quickly looked away and went back to their studies and books as he looked at each of them in turn. "No, but why deny the inevitable since your employees wanted to set this up to see the truth for themselves." He replied as she gazed back at the entryway and spied the three looking at them with grins of joy. She narrowed her eyes at the lot of them and watched as they disappeared around the corner and back to their stations. "They probably already knew, didn't they?" She inquired as she glanced back at Swain. "Through their summonings with you, I bet." Swain nodded as they moved to take a seat at one of the couches. "Rosaley, to be precise. She was very curious about our 'relationship'."

Mikki sighed as she leaned back into the couch, slowly sinking into the soft cushions. "Figured. From there, she probably told Jean and Saline what you told her and that's how that mistletoe ended up in that arc way while we were out getting the tree." She felt drained from the embarrassment and all the walking as she tilted her head to look at Swain who sat straight in his seat, holding his cane in front of him lightly. "With this many witnesses, I'm sure our little kiss will draw a lot of attention." She continued to say as he stayed silent, almost like he was thinking of his next move. With a heavy sigh, Mikki moved off the couch and stretched out before heading out of the lounge room away from Swain. She could still feel the heat on her face as she saw her little assistants sweeping up the needles as instructed. They caught her watching them as they laughed nervously, seeing Mikki upset at them as she got closer to the group.

"I hope you enjoyed that little spectacle." She murmured at them as they looked at each other, not sure on how to react as Mikki sighed at them. "I'm not going to fire you over this, but I just wanted to let you know that there shall be no more of these little incidents again, understood?" They each nodded vigorously in acknowledgement. "We're sorry about it. We promise not to do it again." Rosaley said to her as Mikki smiled weakly at them. "As long as you understand." The assistants each sighed heavily in relief as Mikki strolled around the library the rest of the day, making sure nothing was out of place and occasionally stopping by the lounge room where she found Swain reading the novel he left behind on the table.

"Swain, are you truly going to come by each day to make sure I'm not being lead away from here?" She asked him as he gazed up at her with his red eyes. "As long as there's a chance of it happening, I'll continue to come by to make sure you're not getting into trouble." She pouted at him as she kept her spot a foot in front of him. "I'm not a child like everyone seems to call me these days. I can take care of myself." She bolstered at him quietly as he shut the book once more with some force and set it aside. "You're misunderstanding my intentions." He whispered back as he stood up, putting himself just inches in front of her as she looked up at him. "Then tell me your intentions then if you don't want me to misunderstand." With that, he swiftly glided by her, grabbing onto her robe sleeve and pulled her out of the lounge room and up the spiral staircase to the top floor and continued to lead her back to her apartment.

Closing the door and locking it behind him, he pulled her over to her bed and gently had her bump the back of her knees into the edge and fall back onto the bed as he leaned over her with his face just inches from her own. "You should have realized this already." He muttered to her as she glanced up at him with shock. Mikki moved to get out from under him, but was stopped with him pressing a hand down onto her shoulder as she looked back up at him with irritation. "You can't just tell me instead of making such a fuss over this?" He glared down at her, making her shrink back slightly in fear. "Even if I explained, would you still accept or understand what I'm doing?" He asked her as she widened her eyes at him with trace amounts of clarity. "Swain?" He ran his hand over her shoulder and up to her face, gently caressing the soft skin on her face as she blushed lightly from the contact. His other hand gently stroked up her side, making her wiggle in place.

With each touch, her mind started to haze as she nuzzled her face into his hand as she reached up to hold onto it gently. Swain petted the side of her face gently before pulling his hand away, watching her frown from the sudden lack of contact. "You sway so easily and you wonder why I'm coming here each day." He said to her as she huffed at him and turned to her side away from him. "You knew full well I was never a social or touchy girl growing up. I can't help it if I get a bit flustered from a simple touch on the face or sides." She muttered as he looked at her now curled up form. He straightened himself as he moved away from the bed and towards the apartment door. "Just remember that and keep yourself out of trouble." He said to her before unlocking the door and leaving her apartment as she flipped over and stared at the closing door behind him.

He truly left her more frustrated than earlier as she sat up and moved to her dresser, making sure her hair looked alright before leaving her apartment as well as she noticed the daylight slowly fade from the windows. It was almost time to close as she spotted the tree partly decorated as the employees tried to figure out how to reach the top parts of the tree. "We'll figure that out tomorrow. For now, just wrap up anything you have unfinished and go home for the day." Mikki instructed her crew as they nodded and finished any book placing or trash cleaning around their areas before leaving for the Institute. After locking up for the night, Mikki sighed as she turned to face the tree once more before turning herself in for the night. Her legs hurt from all the walking and she needed to think on her latest talk with Swain.


	24. Chapter 23: Distraction

Chapter 23: Distraction

It never seemed to end as the days after the kissing incident crawled by slowly. Questions kept being asked and Mikki would tell them leave the issue alone. It was frustrating being the more approachable one of the two. The only thing that hasn't happened yet was one of the regular visiting champions coming in to ask about it and she hoped that it never comes, but the dread of knowing at least one of them will hear of it and ask about it as well. She sighed and blamed the negative thoughts on the rain that's been pouring down during the past couple days. Guess it's going to be a soggy Snowdown this year in Noxus. Her assistants on the other hand seem to be enjoying their time, seeing as they got what they wanted like an early Christmas present.

With the library in full decorations, the halls were no longer dim and showed more with glows of green and red from the lights. The tree was also fully covered in ornaments and a long string of lights topped off with a golden star at the very top next to the fire place where small amounts of items have been stuff into the stocking that hung there. The fireplace roared with the current fire burning brightly as a good majority of the patrons took up spots on the ground around it for the warmth and light. With the end of another school semester, there were significantly less students around and more summoners who were just looking for a good book or social group to join. Even with all the happy chatter going about, Mikki still felt irritated with Swain as she sat in the west wing kitchen, sipping away at a mug of hot chocolate. While he's still dropping by during the open hours, neither of them speak to the other, for various reasons.

"You still upset about the other day, Mikki?" Jean asked her as he took a bite of his sandwich, watching his employer warily from across the table. She shrugged and set down the mug she was holding tightly to. "Upset isn't quite the word, but you're close." She replied to him quietly as she glanced at him from the edge of her eyes as she faced away from him. Jean gave a very soft 'oh' and went back to eating as Mikki got up and rinsed out the now empty mug in the sink. She left the kitchen and walked slowly to the main room and took up her spot at the counter. The sound of giggles came from the front door as Saline and Rosaley walked in, arriving from the Institute after what she believed was a rousing round of summoning for them.

"I can't believe your friend thinks LeBlanc is hot, what was he thinking? I mean, Katarina is more of a looker than the Deceiver." Rosaley said loudly as Saline covered her mouth to muffle the laughter she was making. "Well, he also claims that he plans of meeting her in in person in Zaun where she's apparently staying, but who knows really?" She snickered uncontrollably as Mikki looked at the two girls with raised eye brows. "Having fun chatting about boys and their crushes?" She asked them as they nodded in unison with wide grins. "Of course, it's so cute at how hopeless his crush is." Rosaley continued she propped herself against the counter next to Mikki as Saline did the same on the other side. Mikki sighed at them as she looked between the girls. "It's a wonder how you two don't have boyfriends yourselves." She pointed out as they gasped and sighed.

"That's not fair, you have Swain." Saline mused as Mikki rolled her eyes at her. "We're not like that." She muttered as she tilted her head at Saline. "Besides, are you worried he's being set up, or do you like the guy and think he shouldn't be dating a champion?" She asked as Rosaley giggled, obviously thinking the same thing. Saline gave her and exaggerated gasp and huffed at them. "No, I'm worried that LeBlanc might hurt him, or worse, since Swain apparently isn't your's, that he might find out and tell my friend to bugger off or something."

_'Ahh, the logic of girls,'_ Mikki thought to herself as she leaned on her good hand. "Why don't you just let Swain know yourself instead of telling me about it." Swain was just in the lounge room, reading yet another novel as the hours passed by, but Saline shook her head vigorously. "No way, I can't talk to him!" Both Mikki and Rosaley were chuckling at this as Saline fumed at them. "Not funny. Can't you let him know for me or at least join me so you can help explain?" She was serious about it as she looked away, her face showing how embarrassed she was over this. Mikki sighed at the request and nodded lightly as she got up. "Might as well tell him now while it's fresh on your mind." Saline beamed as she shoved off the counter and followed the librarian into the lounge room.

Saline grabbed at the back of Mikki's robes as they slowly approached Swain's form in the same firm chair as last time, Beatrice sleeping on his shoulder. She couldn't tell if it Saline was scared of him or just nervous, so she opted for a mix of both and proceeded to step up next to Swain, pretending to see what Swain was reading as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Was there something you need?" He asked as Mikki glanced at Saline and back to him. "Saline had a concern that you might be able to help her with if you would." Mikki stepped off to the side so Saline could be seen a bit more for Swain as he looked at her with cold red eyes. Saline gulped and stepped back behind Mikki and tightened her grip on her robes. Mikki sagged her shoulders with a sigh as she turned back to Swain. "What she was concerned about is her friend getting too friendly with LeBlanc and would like it if you could talk LeBlanc into not see this guy." She relayed to him as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"She couldn't talk her friend out of it?" He questioned as he glanced at Saline who shook her head violently and kept putting Mikki between them. "Guess not. She also mentioned that they were meeting in Zaun, if I recall correctly." She nodded as Swain leaned back into the chair. "Does she really expect me to go out and talk to LeBlanc about what she does?" The more this conversation kept going, the more Mikki could see something was up and so did Swain as Mikki turned to face Saline. "What time did they say they were meeting, Saline?" The girl looked up at Mikki as she continued to cling to her robes. "Around early this afternoon." She sounded rushed as she closed her eyes again and pushed away from Mikki and made a dash out of the lounge room. "Well then." Mikki was left a bit dumbstruck at Saline's reaction.

Swain looked to Mikki as she turned back to apologize to him about Saline. "Do you really believe what she was asking?" He asked the librarian as she sighed at him. "It sounds odd, certainly, but if you do look into it, you'd need to get there soon." She told him as he placed the book he was reading down on the table next to him and stood up, slowly making his way out of the lounge room as Mikki followed him out and to the front of the library. "While I don't care about your employee's little friend, I still need to have a chat with LeBlanc." He turned to her and glanced at Mikki's right hand. She noticed this and nodded lightly. "Of course. Need me to set a port rune?" Swain nodded as Mikki raised her left hand and started forming the purple rune under his feet as it slowly manifested to completion then teleported Swain off to Zaun.

Now standing alone just out front of the library, Mikki sighed as she moved to go back inside, but stop as she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned back around. "Ah! Irannius?" She murmured, looking perplexed as the adjudicator stood behind her and smiled lightly. "I hope I didn't surprise you too much." He mused as he motioned for them to walk back into the library. With a small 'yes', they moved back into the library where she saw Saline and Rosaley chatting away again as they minded the Information and Checkout counter. "What brings you here today?" Mikki asked as they started walking around the ground floor of the expansive library. "I came to see how you were holding up." He answered softly as Mikki glanced at him curiously and tilted her head at him. "I'm fine, it's not as if I've left the library since you last visited." Which was mostly true, except she had to visit the hospital once more to lower the amount of the cast around her arm and fingers and to get the Christmas tree that now sits fully decorated in the main hall.

He glanced over her, looking for faded traces of bruises on her face before glancing down at her right hand that now hung at her side like normal. "Well, at least you can move your arm a bit more. How much longer till the cast comes off?" Mikki sighed at him as they moved around the bookshelves slowly, weaving around to no where in particular. "Mid February at the latest, they said." She told him as he nodded in agreement. She looked at him from the corner of her eye as she saw a small glimpse of sorrow in his face before taking a deep breath. "I notice you show up just as Swain left. Do you still harbor such distrust with him?" Irannius blinked at her for a moment with slight shock in his face before recomposing himself. "You really shouldn't pry about that. It's best you don't know why."

The hall way they were in was empty as they stood there, looking at each other with wary stares before Mikki looked away. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." She said to him as he shook his head at her. "No, you have all the right to ask. But I really must question, after all the time you spent with him, how is it that you can still tolerate the man that seeks to use you?" Mikki glanced away in thought as she stared at the wall behind her. She didn't want to answer him, either for his safety or out of irritation, as the emotions conflicted with one another inside her mind.

Irannius caught a glimpse of her face struggling to keep her thoughts hidden from him, but she was much too inexperienced to hide her answers from him. He raised his hand and gently touched the side of her face with the tip of his fingers lightly, watching as she turned around at him and pulled away from his reach. "What was that for?" She was almost yelling at him as she rubbed at where he touched with her left hand. "You never use to be this closed up or jumpy. His increased interactions with you has made you more like him. Secretive and wary." Irannius grimaced at her as she widened her gaze at him with awe. He sighed as he gently stroked at his goatee lightly in thought. "Perhaps you need to spend some time away from both him and Noxus?" He mused at her as she shook her head at him. "Out of the question. I'll stay put even it if drives me insane." She crossed her arms awkwardly at him as she grimaced off to the side, facing away from him. "You really are a masochist, but this isn't good for you. He keeps you here and it's making you tense and unfocused. You need to rest somewhere where you won't have to worry about the Grand General or your library."

Mikki wanted to slap him for having the audacity to even suggest she disobey orders and leave the library without permission, but even still, she felt like he had a point as she sighed heavily at him. "I've already tried that. What makes you think doing it again will work?" She muttered at him as he pulled her off into the empty map room and closed the door. "Because I've got everything set up for you this time. I've already told your employees that I'm taking you out for a couple days to the Institute so that you may have a chance to see and get to know some more champions." Mikki was dumbstruck by what he told her as she stuttered at him, obviously very flustered at the notion. He raised a hand in front of her and continued. "I also want to be able to ask you questions that I think are best not answered here, in case the Grand General decides to interrupt us."

"About what? What do you have to ask that can't be asked here?" She pried as he shook his head. "Well, it's more me giving you information that I do not want to have over heard." He said, correcting his statement as she looked at him with mild irritation. "So you're going to whisk me away to the Institute of War to give me not only time to myself, but information as well?" She inquired as he nodded. "Yes. I figured it would be the least I could do for taking you away from your duties here for a short while." Mikki made a can't decide face at him as she leaned on the large map table in the middle of the room. "You're risking a lot over this, Irannius." She mumbled as she turned to face the large map on the table behind her.

Irannius placed a hand on her shoulder lightly and looked to see what she was looking at. Blue colored runes dotted the map as Mikki glanced at it with contemplative eyes. There were quite a few around both the Institute and a bunch more around Noxus and Zaun as he realized this was how she kept track of all the books that she lends out. "This may be a risk, but it'll be worth it to see you feel better and to mess with the master tactician." He told her as she glanced at him with a sigh. "You better hope I can cover for you when I get back. I know he doesn't like being messed with." She said to him calmly as she stood up straight, the little runes on the map disappearing. "So is that a 'yes'?" Mikki rolled her eyes at him before nodding. "Might as well. Hope you know what you got yourself into with this." He chuckled at the thought and teleported the two of them to the front steps of the Institute of War.

Couple hours later.

After spending a good while navigating around the Institute, Irannius showed her to a room were she could sleep for the next couple nights. "I get the feeling I'm going to get lost trying to find the room again." She muttered as he chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, I'll show you back when we're done talking and then you can figure out how to get back once you decide you want to roam for a while." Mikki gave him a 'so reassuring' face as he laughed. "See, you're already lightening up. Come now, follow me. We'll chat in my room." Mikki nodded as she tried to memorize the door number before taking a few long strides to keep up with him. The halls were just as plain as she remembered, but she still managed to see some familiar patrons of the library standing around chatting with fellow summoners. "I forget how there's so many people that are summoners here." She mused to herself as they turned down another hallway.

The stares she received weren't the friendliness of looks as she probably realized they were summoners that favored champions that opposed Noxus as she was still in her head librarian robes. She picked up her pace and nearly bumped into Irannius as he stopped in front of another room door that was out of the way a bit from the normal guest rooms. "Got a bit nervous, did you?" He asked as she nodded. "So many stares of distrust and anger, no wonder I never left the library for long periods of time before recently." She whispered back at him as he unlocked the door and opened it, showing her inside. The interior was simplistic, with a few exceptions of a personal fireplace and chandelier that hung in the center of the ceiling. He closed the door and locked it so they wouldn't be interrupted.

"Why couldn't we have this conversation in my room?" Mikki inquired as Irannius pulled up a couple chair for the two of them. "Because, your room is monitored and doesn't have very thick walls to muffle the conversation we're about to have." He told her blandly as she looked about the room with some curiosity. Mikki took the offered seat as she continued to glance about the room. "Do all summoners live like this here?" He shook his head a bit. "You're forgetting I'm an Adjudicator now, I do have a bit more to my room than normal summoners." She gave a small 'oh' as she turned her gaze back at him. "Well, I sated some of my curiosity. Now, I guess you had some important questions for me to answer?"

Cutting straight to the point threw him a bit off guard for a moment before he sat across from her in the other chair. "I do. What I ask may be difficult for you to answer but please try and give me honest response." He started as Mikki nodded her head lightly, giving him a slight wary look with her dark brown eyes. Irannius cleared his throat and took a deep breath before continuing. "I would like to know what exactly Swain is to you and what is his reason for keeping you so closely watched as he has been lately."

The double question made Mikki raise her eye brows at him before sighing at him and leaning her head onto her left hand that is now propped up on her knee in front of her. "You're asking something that most everyone that knows of our unusual 'relationship' has been asking." She stated at him as he made a small noise but stayed silent and waited. "I'm sure you've guessed that I've known him for much longer than what I've told you before." She paused for a moment to study Irannius's face closely as he gazed intently at her, which brought on another sigh. "I've always been curious about Swain for as long as I've known him which is what he is to me, the puzzle I can't solve. As for why he's being so protective of me as of late, I think he's worried, but he doesn't show such emotions as normal people do." She finished and leaned back into the chair, now waiting for his reaction.

"He's worried, but not showing it in the normal sense. How do you figure that?" He asked her gently as Mikki shrugged her small shoulders. "I don't know. It's merely a guess, but I could be right or I could be wrong." She shifted slight in her seat as she looked at him. "Anything else?" That nagging feeling started to bug the back of her mind as she sat there, answering questions.

Irannius thought for a moment as he glanced at the librarian before him._ 'Should I tell her,'_ he thought to himself as he glanced down at her cast hand and grimaced slightly. "Something wrong?" She asked him, obviously she was watching his face for clues as she tilted her head at him. "You've been hurt and I can't help but feel responsible for it." He told her as she shook her head. "You didn't do this to me, Irannius, so don't go blaming yourself over something that wasn't your fault." She told him sternly as he stood up, making his chair skid cross the floor and created a horrible noise that made Mikki flinch. "It was my fault!" He yelled at her as she pushed herself further into her seat. "I know LeBlanc tried to kill you. I asked her to help me discourage you from the Grand General, but I didn't think she would be so aggressive over it."

Silence hung in the air as Mikki glanced up at Irannius's form, watching him breath heavily from the outburst. Her lips thinned at what he told her, but she held her seat. "You've been watching me through LeBlanc? Why?" She asked him as he inhaled deeply to calm down. "He's been plotting something and with his regular visits to your library, I figured the piece to his grand scheme was you. Thanks to LeBlanc, I know for a fact now he's using you for his own personal use but for what, I'm not sure." Mikki glanced away from him, her cheeks slowly turning red. "Why should you care about it? What could you possibly gain from taking me away from him?" Her words became spiteful, almost venomous sounding as he looked down at her, watching her face grow more red in color.

"I know I haven't been fully honest with you, Mikki, but, from what I've seen through LeBlanc and yourself, you have something that he needs." It was Mikki's turn to stand and face Irannius as she was fully enraged at what he has already told her. "So, it's safe to assume you were the one that wanted to see me make the champion roster?" He may have a foot difference in height on her, but the librarian's aura started to swirl around them, making Irannius back up slightly from the pressure. "Yes, though I had to disguise myself from you and the Grand General." He told her as she stepped closer to him. Irannius was staring at the rarest sight that no one will probably ever see as Mikki stood before him, making the air thick with magic that wasn't gentle at all. He remember when he had her face Malzahar on the Proving Grounds, but what he saw before him was not restrained by a pacifism spell or summoning magic. The rage of the Noxian Librarian.

Another step put her in his face as he nearly tripped back over his chair as he looked at the anger in Mikki's face. Irannius was scared of what she might do to him as she raised her left hand. Closing his eyes tightly, the next moment, he felt a hard slap hit his right cheek, then the pressure of the magic was gone. He cracked an eye to find Mikki looking at the floor between them as she rub at her right hand's fingers. "I deserved that, didn't I?" He questioned lightly as she looked up at him, her face softened before she back away from him. "You deserved more than that, but I can't bring myself to harm you further." She told him as he stared at the librarian in disbelief. "I should be grateful that you're so kind." She sighed at him as she flopped back into the chair she was sitting in. His face stung a bit from the slap as he gazed into a nearby mirror and saw a small imprint of where her hand hit.

Irannius picked up his chair and sat back down as well as he realized Mikki was watching him with weary eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" She sighed softly for a moment as she realized that her stomach was growling. "I'm just a bit hungry." He shrugged his shoulders, a bit disoriented with the change in personality from the librarian. "Alright, we'll head to the cafeteria then." With that, he took her to the cafeteria area where it was packed with summoners. Again, more stares of distrust or curiosity were glanced in their direction as they slowly made headway in the line for food. "I don't think I'd enjoy it here very much." She whispered to Irannius as he chuckled lightly. "It takes time to get use to the stares, but soon, you just start to blend in unless you make a name for yourself." He whispered back as they moved another foot in line.

Moments later after getting a tray of food, they took up a spot near the far end of the cafeteria to sit down. Irannius watched Mikki take a couple spoonfuls of soup she got before starting on his own meal. "You make your own food at the library, don't you?" She nodded weakly, drained from raging at him. 'She must not be use to using so much of her magic at once,' he mused as she sipped away at her soup._ 'Her charm lies with her calm demeanor, but her value to the Grand General lies with her magic.'_ Mikki looked up at him as he realized he was staring at her. "Thinking about something amusing?" She mumbled at him as he chuckled lightly. "Perhaps, but I think I figured out why he insists on keep you close." She raised her eye brows at him, making a small 'oh' as she tilted her head lightly. "I think he's looking for a strong woman to have an heir with."

Mikki dropped her spoon at the statement as she narrowed her eyes at him. "How is that amusing?" Her slightly raised voice brought a bit of attention from the summoners as she pulled back and picked up her spoon and started to clean it off with a napkin. Irannius raised an eye brow at her this time as she looked away from him with a familiar flush of red on her cheeks. "Don't tell me, he already did it?" He meant it as a question, but sounded more like a statement as she nodded slowly, grimacing at the spoon she held. Irannius leaned forward and covered his face with his hands, sighing heavily. "I can't believe the time I wasn't watching he finally makes the move on you."Setting down her spoon, she stood up and took her tray away to dispose of the leftover food on her plate, her face completely embarrassed. Mikki walked back over to him and tapped him on his shoulder. "Lead me back to my room, I'm going to go to bed a bit early tonight." She told him as he nodded and repeated what she did and scraped the leftovers into the trash and slowly lead her to the guest room he set up for her. "I'll come by in the morning to see if you're feeling better." he said softly as he handed her a key to the room. Mikki nodded lightly as she glanced up at him. "Alright, but don't expect me to forgive you tomorrow." She used the key to unlock and open the door as she stepped inside the plain room and closed the door behind her and locked it.


	25. Chapter 24: Problematic Encounter

Chapter 24: Problematic Encounter

She couldn't sleep. Not a wink. Staring at the dull white ceiling while laying on the bed was all she could manage. Mikki felt drained, exhausted, yet still in need to move about. The librarian rolled to her side, facing the blank wall that lined one side of the bed as she closed her eyes in hopes of just drifting off to sleep and figure the rest out in the morning, but it never came. It was still early into the night hours when she had Irannius lead her back to her guest room and this will give her ample time to sort out the information she just received. With a heavy sigh, she sat up and got off the bed and started pacing about the room, lost in thought. Gazing about once more, while she was told it was a supervised room, she saw no signs of such, unless it was magically being surveyed from somewhere else in the Institute.

_'It's just the room that's being monitored.'_ She thought as she paced in another circle around the room. _'I know I have all day tomorrow, but why waste the time alone to do some sightseeing by myself for a bit.'_ With a slight grin, she walked to the small dresser and picked up the small key to the room and pocketed it in a small niche in her robe and headed for the door. Pulling the door open, Mikki peered out and saw no one in the hall before stepping out and pulled the door shut behind her and locked it and drifted to where the cafeteria was. With the path fresh in her mind, she easily found it quickly enough and also noticed that not as many of the summoners that where roaming the halls weren't paying her any mind, which made her more confident with her decision to explore tonight. _'Maybe it's because I'm not walking around with Irannius in his Adjudicator robes.'_ She mused as she strolled up to the bar and ordered a mug of hot chocolate for the night.

Taking a seat relatively close to where they where sitting before, Mikki looked about the now sparse crowd of summoners chatting away about their latest conquests on the Fields of Justice or trading the juiciest gossip that's going around. There were no champions around, which was probably for the best as she blew lightly at the hot liquid and sipped gently. The atmosphere around the cafeteria was calm and she liked it this way for it gave her some peace of mind, something that's been eluding her for some months now. But the peace didn't last as long as she hoped as the chatter grew louder.

Lifting her gaze to see what the fuss was about, she saw that the summoners were watching as she heard the sound of armor clinking as the person moved into view. The overly large shoulder pieces struck out first as they looked ridiculous in her opinion before she moved her gaze to the face of the man in the silly golden armor. From what she's been told by Lux, this was Price Jarven the Fourth gracing the cafeteria with his presence. Jarven really did hold his emotions on his sleeve, or in this case, his face, as he held his head aloft of everyone as female summoners gathered around him like a bunch of groupies at a Pentakill concert. With any luck, he wouldn't notice her as she sat still at her seat and sipped again at the beverage, keeping a single eye on the champion and his admirers.

Jarven must have came from being summoned in a victory match for his team cause he was laughing and greeting the crowd while grabbing something to eat and sitting down with the summoners at a table near by. The brief thought of 'is this what's it's like in high school' drifted through her mind as she sat alone like a wallflower while Jarven was the big man in the room, hogging all the attention, both good and bad. Not all the summoners like having him in the room, some even showed out right hate towards the Demancian as they kept to themselves._ 'Couldn't be worst,'_ She mused to herself as she noticed a couple more champions walked in and nearly chocked on her hot chocolate at the sight.

The might of Demancia, Garen Crownguard, walked in looking obviously a bit peeved and his sister, Lux, right at his sided with a slightly less upset look on her face as they walked into the area and spotted Jarven and started to head over, which made the chatter of the summoners even louder than before. As the siblings strolled over to their friend, Lux noticed the librarian sitting not too far off and gasped as she did a double take to make sure it was really her, then smiled happily. "Mikki!" All formalities aside, the librarian wanted to disappear after Lux called out to her as she coughed on a sip of her drink. Garen noticed her now and sighed at his sister as Jarven turned his gaze in her direction as well and narrowed his eyes. Yep, she was still in her Noxian robes and Lux was oblivious to both Jarven's and Garen's reactions to this as she pranced to the librarian over Jarven.

"I didn't think you'd be here." Lux said as Mikki tried to recover from the attention overload that they were getting from all this. "Y-yes, well, a friend invited me here for a couple days." She stuttered as she could feel the distrust coming from Jarven now as she tried her best to put on a smile. Lux blinked at her for a moment before turning to Jarven and frowning. "Jarven, stop looking so mean at her. She's a good person." The prince scoffed and stood up and walked over to Lux and Mikki. "A good person? A Noxian good? What nonsense has this woman been putting in your head Luxanna?" They looked a bit shocked at Jarven's bold speech as Lux huffed at him. "She's not like that. Tell him, Mikki. You're not like other Noxians."

The librarian sat there, almost stunned at the turn of events as she just wanted to teleport away from it all and hide, but she already wasted her one rune for the day for Swain. Jarven was staring, so was Garen and Lux and the rest of the room, all eyes on her as she cleared her throat. "Prince Jarven, while I know my robes indicate my nationality as a Noxian, I have never once held a thought on harming Lady Lux or any other non Noxian patron that visits my library on the outskirts of Noxus." She put as elegantly and gently as possible as he sneered at her diminutive form. "If it wasn't for the fact you have hair and a lack of a pet bird, I could have sworn you were 'Swine' with less armor." At this, Mikki raised an eye brow at Jarven's nickname for Swain. "I'm just wearing standard librarian's robes, nothing so special." She replied as she took one last sip from the mug and set it down.

Lux stepped between the two of them and faced Jarven. "Leave her alone, she's been through enough the past month without adding your interrogations to her list as well." She truly was too kind for Mikki as Jarven moved to pull Lux away from her, but before he could do that, Mikki herself gently moved her away from Jarven and stepped between Lux and the crown price. "It's fine, Lux. He's not going to listen to reason, so let him have his opinion about me." She muttered over her shoulder as the Jarven, now standing a foot in front of her, looked down on her. "Aren't you generous. So tell me, what's a Noxian librarian doing here at the Institute?" He inquired curiously as Mikki gazed up at him, seeing the seething hatred in his eyes as he looked at her.

With an exasperated sigh, she lowered her shoulders to seem less threatening to the prince. "Look, I was invited here by a friend cause they thought I needed to get away from my duties back in Noxus. If you think I'm up to something, follow me around, you'll see that I'm not lying and you're being paranoid." She told him sternly as he huffed at her. "You expect me to follow your every move to prove I was wrong? I think not." This warranted several chuckles from around the room as Mikki sighed again at the Prince. Not the brightest guy in the bunch.

With a raise of her hands in surrender, she looked up at him once more. "I give up trying to convince you of anything. I'm going back to my room here for the night if I'm just going to be questioned out of suspicion." She told everyone and turned started for the exit leading back to her room, waving good bye to the Demancians and the summoners. Just before she could step through, she was knocked back away from it as the tattered form of LeBlanc stood in her way, looking enraged and beaten at the same time. "You certainly get around, librarian." She sneered at her as the crowd of summoners plus the champions all saw what just happened. Mikki was now laying crumpled at Jarven's feet as she looked up at the Deceiver's form. "I see he found you first. Wasn't happy with you, was he?" She jested back and stumbled a bit getting back to her feet. "LeBlanc, what are you doing?" Lux asked as she just laughed maniacally at the question.

"Lux, remember when you asked me how I broke my hand?" The Lady of Luminosity nodded as Garen and Jarven both stared at the librarian as she dusted herself off. "It was LeBlanc." Her eyes widened at the reply as LeBlanc chuckled at her handy work. "Indeed. But you're not walking away with just a broken hand this time, child." She disappeared, but Mikki was prepared as she set a red rune on top of herself and watched as LeBlanc appeared, but couldn't move or retreat this time. "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, I think not!" Both Garen and Jarven surrounded LeBlanc as she was now the helpless one, caught in Mikki's snare. "How dare you! How dare you gain his favor so quickly! Jericho's supposed to rely on me alone, not some run down pacifist librarian."

The news brought all the stares to Mikki as she sighed heavily at the Deciever and tilted her head. "You're wrong." Mikki took a couple steps up to LeBlanc as she looked down at her stunned form. "While I do admire being useful, I'm not trying to replace you in anyway. He just does what he wants, whether or not we like it or not." Mikki saw that LeBlanc's face was torn like a flock of raven's attacked her and the bit of clothing she wore were torn and shredded. With the newest addition of fresh tears forming in her eyes, she almost looked hurt at what Mikki said. "I-I can't believe you. How can you be so….neutral?" She balled her hands around the staff she held as Mikki knelt down and faced LeBlanc eye to eye. "Because I'm just a librarian. I just sit back and record history as it unfolds." They heard Lux chuckle lightly as well as some of the summoners, a couple Mikki realized did visit the library on occasion. "So, did you check the library before you came here for me?" She questioned as the champion before her nodded. "I figured you would be there, seeing as he did tell you to stay put, but I guess you had plans today." She was laughing under her breath as Mikki sighed and stood back up and removed the rune from under LeBlanc.

"Go back to where you call home and rest. You're in no condition to face me, despite how much I know you want to." She commanded of LeBlanc as she glared at the librarian with hate. "This is the last mistake you'll make, but I'll do as you ask for now." She was gone and Mikki took a deep breath and sighed. "So in trouble when I return home." She muttered as she glanced at the three champions before her. "You're hated by LeBlanc because Swain likes you more?" Lux mused as she grinned a bit at the Noxian. Mikki wished she said it differently but, instead, she placed her left hand over her face. "That's one way to put it." She muttered as Jarven walked up to Mikki, blocking Lux from her view. "So you're one of Swain's little lapdogs, but it seems even those you work with are jealous of the new pet." Mikki made a noise of dislike as he kept looking down at her. "I'm just the librarian. Nothing more, nothing less."

The stare down continued between them till a rush of a pair of foot steps sounded behind them. "What's going on here?" A voice called out as they each looked at the pair of Adjudicator's robes as they addressed the crowd. Mikki noticed Irannius was one of them, but wasn't the one that was speaking. He was giving her a look of knowing what transpired as she sighed at him angrily. "It was LeBlanc. She came, knocked around my friend, was stopped, then she left." Lux tried explaining to the other Adjudicator as she looked at the librarian then back to the crowd. "No other conflict has occurred then?" They each shook their heads as she turned to Irannius. "Why don't you question the Noxian and I'll talk to the champions." The other Adjudicator was treating him like a rookie, but he didn't seem to mind as he moved and pulled Mikki aside away from the cafeteria and lead her back to her room.

"Quite a close call you had there." He whispered to her as she shrugged and stretched as they moved down the halls. "Indeed. Didn't think she'd show up here though looking for blood." He chuckled as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "You certainly have a knack for trouble, but also for defusing it when given the chance." She couldn't tell if he was complementing or messing with her. "You should be careful as well, she might be a bit upset at what you pulled to get back at her for this." Motioning with her wrapped up right hand lightly as he nodded lightly in agreement. "Of course. But, right now, you should seriously stay in your room and try to sleep this time and we'll walk around the gardens tomorrow morning." Mikki gave him a mock pout before crossing her arms in front of her as they reached the guest room.

Pulling out the key from her pocket, Mikki unlocked it and looked back at Irannius for a moment, raising her eye brow at him with curiosity. "Don't you have to make a report of your questioning?" He laughed and shrugged. "I already know what happened, I just have to write down what you 'told' me about it." Rolling her eyes she frowned at him with a slight hint of frustration. "I really wish you'd stop watching me. I know it's helping you, but not so much me." She murmured at him before he chuckled and petted her head lightly. "With what happened tonight, you really can't blame me for keeping tabs on you like this." With a resigned sigh, Mikki nodded lightly as she bid him good night and locked herself back into the plain room. This time, she was really tired and finally drifted off to sleep.


	26. Chapter 25: Bloody Affairs

Chapter 25: Bloody Affairs

She knew the Institute was big, but the garden itself was about the size of the library, if not more so. "Overwhelmed yet?" Irannius asked Mikki as she gazed though the trees while walking along the path way to the fountains in the center of the place. "Overwhelmed isn't quite the word I was looking for." She poked back at him as she looked up around the canopy of the trees that lined the concrete path. "It's like being surrounded by books, before they became books." She mused, pulling a bit of a chuckle from him.

The path they were on had several groups of summoners grouped up socializing over breakfast. Mikki and Irannius already grabbed something from the cafeteria, Mikki getting the most curious of looks after what transpired last night while they ate before setting off around the institute. "I think some of these summoners would love to see you on the Fields of Justice when you decide to join." Mikki gave him a mixed look of irritation and worry as she frowned at him. "I told you I'm not a champion. I really don't have that kind of conviction to be out there." Yes, she was strong in a sense, but she didn't have the heart to go through with what most others would do if they were in her shoes. Last night was proof of that.

Irannius ruffled at her hair, pulling a bit of it out of her loose pony tail and watched as she pulled it back into place. "No wonder he gets to you. You're easy to tease." A blush formed on her cheeks as she looked away from him as they slowly approached the center of the garden area. It was a fairly active area, with various summoners clumped together in front of the fountains. A particularly large group was in front of the Urf the Manatee fountain, all watching what looked like red water swirling about a tall figure with white hair. On closer inspection, Mikki realized it was Vladimir entertaining some of the summoners with his hemomancy. "Does stuff like this happen all the time here?" She questioned as Irannius grimaced lightly before nodding. "Of course, all champions have a second home here at the Institute as well as their respective homes outside."

Glancing at the crimson reaper then the Adjudicator next to her, she tilted her head lightly to the side in curiosity. "Something wrong?" He shook his head at her and waved it off. "It's the past now." He muttered as they started to walk around the crowd that surrounded Vlad. Just as they slowly passed the crowd, a flash of red flew in front of their faces, making them both reel back to avoid the blood projectile. There was laughter coming from the crowd as they both looked dazed and annoyed about the blood flying across their faces. "That was uncalled for, Vladimir." Irannius called out to the champion as he gave them a deep chuckle of amusement and beckoned them closer with a clawed hand.

"Come now, Irannius, Miss Halsnight. It's been a while since we've spoken last and let us put all this bad blood behind us." His puns never ceased to exist, even when he so eloquently phrased them. Vlad motioned for his fans to move along for the time being, obviously bored with the usual crowd, as both the librarian and the Adjudicator stepped up to the crimson reaper with some wary caution. Mikki peered once more between them before looking up to Vlad. "I'm assuming that last part was meant for him?" She asked, pointing unnecessarily to Irannius who sighed and tilted her head with his hand. "Of course, but since he didn't tell you, I won't as well, just to be courteous." Irannius gave him a slight nod of approval as Mikki pouted at the two of them for withholding information.

Vladimir looked them over before smirking at the librarian first. "You look much better than you did a couple weeks ago." Mikki smiled a bit and bowed lightly to him. "Thanks to you. Who knows what would have happened if you weren't passing by after that." He gave her an all knowing smirk as he willed the thin line of blood to flow freely between his fingers. "There are quite a few things the Deceiver could have done if given more time, though, I noticed she couldn't really aim for any lethal vital spots on your person." With a swift motion, he moved up to Mikki's right side and pulled up her right hand and examined the cast appendage. "A broken hand, for example, is not life threatening, but a good strike to the heart would have ended your life quickly enough." Mikki tried to pull her hand away, but Vlad kept a firm grip and slowly moved his free hand over her hand. She started to feel the blood underneath the skin move much more freely as the tips of her fingers were no longer cold from not being wrapped up in her other hand.

"Vlad, what are you doing with her hand?" Irannius stepped up to stop him, but he merely waltzed around with Mikki, keeping her between them as he continued to improve circulation in her hand. "You needn't worry, Irannius." Grinning, he spun Mikki into Irannius's arms and watched them stumble for a moment. "Now, don't you two look cute together." He chuckled as Mikki was hanging tightly to Irannius's robes for support as he held the sides of her arms gently before they both let go of each other and looked away from one another. "That wasn't funny, Vlad." Irannius muttered through gritted teeth as Mikki was just blushing furiously from being thrown into the Adjudicator like that. The crimson reaper's grin grew wider as he started to chuckled a bit louder over their reaction.

Mikki flexed her fingers around the cast and noticed they felt much better than before as she bowed her head to Vlad in thanks while Irannius looked at him with a wary eye as he listened to Vlad's chuckling. "Is there something you wish to tell us there?" He inquired as Vladimir strolled back next to the fountain, looking up at it with faux curiosity before gazing at Irannius from the corner of his eyes. "For someone who denounced himself from being the Tactician's prime summoner, you sure like to keep close to those who still are in good graces with him." He looked to the librarian, who was listening intently to what Vlad was saying as she raised an eye brow at the statement. Irannius made a furious sound at the accusation Vlad was making in front of Mikki. "I'm just concerned for her safety. She doesn't deserve to be treated like a toy as I have before her. Especially by him!"

Mikki was a bit shocked at what he was saying and suddenly felt worried for him cause he was bound to put himself in harm's way for her if she wasn't careful herself. "Irannius…" She walked over to him and tugged his sleeve to get his attention, but his focus was on Vladimir. The reaper laughed as he stared at the two of them with a devilish grin. "I get it now. You like her and want to keep Swain from taking her for himself, is that it?" He was teasing the Adjudicator at this point as Irannius made a move to slug Vlad, but finally noticed Mikki pulling his arm back away from the champion and reluctantly stopped to looked at the girl clinging to his arm. "It's not that, I swear." He muttered to her as she sighed at him softly. "I know, but I can't be watched all the time. I can defend myself, I just need to not be caught off guard." She told him, releasing his arm from her grip and stepped back.

"You all mean well, but it's become bothersome." She said softly as she looked between the champion and the Adjudicator with weary eyes. Irannius seemed a bit shocked at what she said while Vlad nodded lightly and smiled at the librarian. "That's the Noxian blood speaking. Though, I always wonder how you manage both sides of your heritage?" He curiously mused as Mikki raised an eye brow at the question, slightly confused for a moment before she placed her left hand over her face in realization. The same thought hit Irannius as well as he realized she acted more like a Demancian when around champions like Lux and Jarven, but acted more Noxian when around Vlad and Swain. What would happen if both side where to be in the same room with her? Which side would be more prominent in that situation? "You're asking me something I can't quite explain myself, Vlad." She told him as she crossed her arms over her chest lightly.

Irannius stepped up to Mikki and placed a hand on her shoulder and slowly pulled her away from Vladimir. "We'll figure it out later, but right now, let's just relax and explore the rest of the Institute like we planned, alright?" He asked as he turned to Vlad. "We thank you for the small chat, but we must get going." The champion chuckled as he took a seat at the edge of the fountain. "Of course. I'm sure you two have lots to discuss while on your little 'date'." Both Mikki and Irannius twitched at the last word as they walked away from the crimson reaper and the fountain area and back onto a path leading to another section of the institute.

The path way was starting to become cluttered with even more summoners as they neared the new section of the Institute. "Where are we now?" Mikki murmured to Irannius as he kept a hand on her small shoulder to make sure they weren't separated in the crowd. "This is where all the summoning happen. I figured you'd like to see what it's like for a summoner to summon champions to the Fields of Justice." He told her as she nodded lightly and tried to see around the mass of purple in front of them. A slight tug around the group lead them around to a viewing platform where several reflective pools showed various battles being held in real time. The librarian stood in awe as she leaned on the railing to see what was going on. While she knew a fair amount of the champions personally, she still had some trouble recognizing some of the others as team fights broke out in each of the games being watched.

"How many champions are there now?" She wondered openly as she watched a Ryze snare down and unsuspecting Malzahar, giggling a bit at how similar it was to their time in the Shurima Desert. "Almost a hundred and ten champions so far." Irannius answered her as he saw what she was giggling at and smiled. "Good times?" He mused as Mikki glanced back at him and narrowed her eyes a bit at him. "Not really, considering the grief we put up with in that desert, then the days after that." He gave her a nervous laugh before gently pulling her away from the viewing pools. "Come on, I'll show you where the champions recall back to the institute after the round is over."

This peaked Mikki's interest as she closely followed the Adjudicator through the halls and down a set of stairs, leading to a basement like area where there were easily over a hundred platforms as they saw a couple of the champions spawn on top of them, looking exhausted from battle. "The more dangerous champions are sent straight to their holding cells in another part of the Institute, but the rest are ported here." He explained to her as she scanned around to see if she recognized any of the champions that just came back. The librarian did indeed spot a familiar face as he stumbled a bit off the platform and was walking their way to leave, but stopped short when he saw Mikki looking in the room and stepped up to them.

"Mikki, what brings you here?" Ezreal asked as he ignored Irannius and gave Mikki a hug in greeting. She gave him a slight chuckle and patted his back as she hug him before releasing him. "I though she'd enjoy a tour of the Institute instead of staying at the library all the time." Irannius told the explorer as the champion looked at the Adjudicator with curious eyes. "Really? You're friends with Mikki?" Irannius nodded as Mikki also nodded to confirm his answer. "He was just concerned I wasn't getting enough time to myself." She added to Irannius's reasoning for Ezreal as the champion gave a small 'ah' of acknowledgement before looking between the two of them. "It's still quite a surprise to see you here of all places." He said as they stood off to the side of the entryway of the spawn room.

They shared a collective laugh as Mikki asked both the guys who was who as the champions spawned in from the various games. "There really hasn't been any new Noxian champions since Darius and Draven's introduction." Irannius muttered as they watched the brothers walk by without giving the small group a glance. "But there's been plenty from Ionia, Piltover or just neutral champions as of late." Ez added as Mikki listened to the two of them chatter about it. After a while, they started getting weird looks from some of the champions and they slowly moved away from the area and headed back towards the cafeteria to grab lunch.

* * *

It was around mid afternoon before they parted ways with Ezreal and started off in another direction of the Institute. "I'm glad things have started to look up for us. Not as stressed as earlier, huh?" Mikki looked up at the Adjudicator and smiled a bit, obviously embarrassed that she really was much less irritated and stressed as opposed to last night or earlier this morning. "I guess so, huh?" He smiled as well and ruffled her hair again, watching the librarian fix it once more with care. "Would you stop that?" She pouted at him as he gave a small chuckle. "You're just so much more relaxed than most Noxians, it's hard to not to tease you." Irannius said as he gently tugged her down a deserted hallway. "But, to make up for it, I'm going to show you something not many know about here."

She tilted her head as she followed him down the hallway, watching as they pass by various doors each with different labels before he stopped in front of a elaborate double door. "I think you'd like this." He pushed open one of the doors and motioned for her to step inside. The room was highly decorated with various pieces of furniture and tables around the expansive room, several people were just sitting around, each wearing the same kind of robes Irannius was using. "Welcome to the Adjudicator's Lounge." He whispered in her ear as he guided her to a small mini bar in the area and got them a couple drinks. It was much quieter than the cafeteria and no one was really paying attention to them here. "This is an awfully nice lounge room for such a small group of people." Mikki muttered to him as he was sipping away at his drink. "Well, we are much more than just summoners, you know." He remarked as the librarian continued to glance about the room.

"I didn't know they had their own room till I was inducted as an adjudicator." Irannius added, watching the small group of fellow adjudicators chat amongst themselves. Mikki turned to him, looking in bit of a panic. "Shouldn't I leave? I mean, I'm not a summoner nor an adjudicator, so I probably shouldn't be here." She started to ramble, wringing her right hand fingers with her left hand as she glanced back around the room. He chuckled and patted her shoulder in assurance. "You're fine. Not only do you have me with you, you still have that Judgment that's still being held off till you're ready. So technically, you're considered a champion here and they can go to any lounge room they want, even this one." Mikki wanted to cover her face with her palm, but was too stunned at what she had going for her to make the effort.

The door opened once again across the lounge as a familiar figure walked through the door with purpose, his raven sitting on his shoulder and his cane held tightly in his hand as he gaze about the room till his red eyes fell upon the two of them at the bar. Mikki stiffened when she noticed who it was that was staring in their direction while Irannius narrowed his eyes at the man that was now walking over to them. "Swain." Irannius murmured as he made a move to put himself in between him and Mikki, watching the tactician stop just a couple feet short of him. "I see you've become an Adjudicator, Irannius. Guess you used what you've learned under my command to get to where you are now. I'm proud." Swain said in a patronizing tone as the adjudicator gritted his teeth at him. "I see you're as condescending as ever." He retorted back as Mikki was shaking her head and tugging his robes to keep him from provoking Swain further.

The few other Adjudicators in the lounge each watched the scene unfold as Swain looked to the librarian and narrowed his eyes at her, then looked back at the adjudicator in between them. "You think you're helping her by bringing her here?" He inquired as Irannius stood his ground in front of Mikki, who was shaking against his back as she held tightly to his robes. "You're the one that's been using her for your selfish needs. I'm trying to give her the freedom you don't seem to let her have." Swain scoffed at the statement and laughed. "Freedom, you say. Yet, here you are, babysitting her like you're her wet nurse." A couple of the people in the lounge chuckled a bit at the word play going on between Irannius and Swain as Mikki let go of Irannius's robes, feeling guilty about the whole thing.

"Now, I'm sure you know the reason I'm even here and I would like to have Mikki returned back to the library where she should be." Swain continued, motioning to her as she glanced up at him with sorry eyes and started to move around Irannius, but couldn't as he put his arm in front of her. "No, I promised her the rest of the day here till tomorrow. You're not going to take her away that easily." Mikki muttered his name in worry as she glanced back at Swain, his eyes showing irritation at the Adjudicator's stubbornness to let go what was his. "Perhaps I should take back what's mine by force then?" It was more of a statement than a question as he stepped closer to the pair. "Over my dead body!" Irannius readied himself for what ever was to come as Swain chuckled at the effort to hold him off. "If you insist."

"Swain, don't!" Mikki finally spoke as she pulled Irannius away from the tactician and managed to step in front of him and faced Swain, still looking very worried and scared as she kept a hand on Irannius's chest to hold him off. "Please, Swain, just let me have the rest of the day here and I'll return back to the library in the morning before opening." She begged him as Irannius looked at her, bewildered at the fact she's trying to ask for permission to stay just to keep him safe. Swain glared at the girl as she held his gaze, though with much difficulty. "What else is there to see around here? I'm sure you've seen all the Institute that you'd be allowed to see already." He was right at this point. They did visit all the areas possible to relax and just chat. Mikki glanced away, obviously she knew there was no getting around what Swain wants. Her.

"She could talk to some of the champions around here and get them to tell their tales to her so she can scribe them for the library." Irannius told him as Mikki glanced back at him with wide eyes. He wanted her to stay and he knew she liked taking notes of stories of various champions so that she could make small biographies for each of them. Swain raised an eye brow at the suggestion that there was still a reason to keep her here. "She's already spoken to several different fellow champions and I'm sure she would be thrilled to speak with even more of them." Mikki nodded her head as she glanced back at Swain with renewed vigor to stay with Irannius for the rest of the day.

The tactician's red eyes narrowed in frustration before stepping up on Mikki and grabbed her chin with his free hand so she was looking at him. "I want you to return tonight." He told her, seeing the fear that lingered in her eyes as he continued to hold her chin as he leaned forward next to her ear. "Ten o'clock at my estate, not your library." He whispered to her so only she heard as she nodded in his grip. He leaned back and let go as Irannius pulled her to him and glared at him. "Ten o'clock is when she's to return to me, Irannius. You will do well to make sure that happens." He said to him as he gripped at her shoulders as Swain turned to leave the lounge, leaving the pair stunned in his wake as the rest of the Adjudicators relaxed once the tension was gone.

Irannius gritted his teeth in frustration as Mikki glanced up at him with a worried look as she felt his hands tighten around her shoulders, making her wince slightly. "Irannius…" She whispered as he realized they were still being watch and let go of her and looked at her. "Let's go." Was all he said as she followed him out of the lounge and back down the halls to the Adjudicator's quarters to his room. He motioned for her to walk in before him as he pulled the door shut and locked it. Mikki was still shaken from their encounter with Swain and the way Irannius was acting was still making her more nervous as he turned to face her. "Irannius, what's wrong?" She asked him gently as he had a hand placed over his face, hiding his expression from her.

Without warning, he grabbed at her right wrist, grasping the bit of cast that prevented her from bending her wrist around. "You either tell me what he needs you for…" He started to say as Mikki tried to pull away from him, but to no avail. "You know I don't know!" She gasped at him as she glared at him and saw a growing hunger behind his eyes as his bore into her's, making her look away in disgust. "I need you to find out for me, Mikki. He needs to be stopped and you're the only one that can help me with this." He told her, his voice becoming a bit more distressed with each word. "Irannius, I can't do that." She muttered as he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her, holding her tightly in a bear hug. "I think you will." He whispered, his words like poisonous honey as she struggled in his grasp.

"I can't." She continued to say as he was now chuckling darkly in her ear, making her shudder in fear as she tried to pull her arms between them, but couldn't. "You will if you want your precious library to stay standing." Mikki's eyes widened as she stopped struggling and stood there, stunned at the words she just heard. "What…?" He gave her a maniacal chuckle as he slowly released her from his hold, but kept a hold on her wrist. "That's right. Your library is at stake here, Mikki. You wouldn't want to see it disappear from your life, would you?" She looked like she was on the verge of tears as she looked to the ground in defeat. "No…"

He still had a tight grip on her wrist as she glanced up at him with caution. He was watching her closely, making sure he still had the upper hand as she glanced back down at the ground. She needed to get away and he locked the door, but there was only one way for her to get out. "I'm not sorry for this!" She screamed, startling him as she placed a red rune under him, stunning him which loosened his grip on her wrist allowing her to pull away as a purple now formed under her. "Mikki!" He yelled as he watched her disappear from his room. Both the runes disappeared as Irannius glared at where she was before she ported. "Wrong choice, librarian."


	27. Chapter 26: Running Emotions

Chapter 26: Running Emotions

Mikki knew where she was. It was dark out, but she could see silhouettes of grave markers as she stood in the middle of the Noxian Graveyard. Gripping her arms tightly to herself in a self hug against the cold, she moved around the slightly familiar rows till she reached the only grave that would matter to her.

_Arabeth Julie Halsnight_

_Beloved Head Librarian_

_Fifth Generation_

_Forever Strong_

_22 June, 18 CLE_

Her mother's grave was kept clean on a daily basis and was glad to see it still kept that way as a single black rose sat at the base of the grave stone. Mikki only vaguely wondered who placed it there as she knelt down in front of her mother's grave, bowing her head in submission. "Evening, Mother. I'm here to pay my respects and to ask you some questions." She whispered, even though she knew she would never get her answers here. "I want to know what I've gotten myself into with becoming the library's newest keeper. Lately, things have been happening between me, Grand General Swain and several others and I want to know if this is what you wanted for me all this time?" The dead don't listen as she expected as she stayed still, listening to the crickets chirp into the night.

The sounds of heavy footsteps was heard as Mikki turned her head to see the grave keeper shuffling up to her. "No grave visiting at night." He growled as she stood up and bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, I just teleported here. I'll leave now." With a curt nod, he followed the librarian out of the front gate entrance and relocked it behind her as she now slowly made her way around the streets of Noxus.

Her mind was in a haze unlike she ever felt before. The mix of fear and rage swirled around, making her head ache with the white noise it seemed to cause inside her mind. Holding her left hand to her forehead to steady herself, the librarian leaned against a lamppost to hopefully make the noise stop, but it didn't. _'I should just go back to the library.'_ She thought to herself as she looked around to see where she was before hobbling slightly in the direction of her home. Something felt off to her, she wasn't acting like usual. The need to enact pain upon the one that threatened her home made itself known inside her thoughts. _'No, I don't want to cause anyone pain, regardless of what he said he'd do!'_ She needed to calm down, but, at the same time, she needed to also protect the library. Her home.

Making some effort to hobble faster, she kept to the walls for support as she made a bee line to the library. Once there, Mikki felt the spell she cast four years ago take over as her mind started to calm the violent thoughts that was plaguing her. It was closed as she knew it would and pulled out the key, unlocking it to get inside and relocked it behind her. Sighing with relief, the librarian took in the all too familiar sight of the main room and walked to the counter and saw that some of the books weren't all placed back on the shelves. _'I might have to talk to them later about this.'_ Her old habits hit her as she moved to reshelf the left over books into their respective sections.

With a glance at the clock above the entrance to the library, she noted it was about an hour till she was expected at Swain's estate. With a heavy sigh, she trudged up to her apartment to clean up. Mikki felt tainted after the evenings events as she scrubbed away at her skin, keeping her right hand above the bath water to keep the cast from getting wet. If sleeping in a hospital with suave on her face was the most horrid experience she had, it just got replaced with Irannius's sudden need to know what Swain requires of her so that he may get his revenge for something she wasn't quite sure of. The sound of his voice, the insanity he was showing to her, it made her scared and angry at the same time. Shaking her head of the thoughts, Mikki got out of the bath and quickly dawned a clean head librarian's robes and tightened her hair tie around her lengthy hair. A quick glance into her mirror showed her eyes were slightly red and had small dark circles under them as she rubbed them weakly with her left hand before setting out to meet with Swain once more.

* * *

With minutes to spare, Mikki stood in front of the door to Swain's estate home. Gently, she knocked on the wooden door in front of her and listened to the familiar steps behind them as she waited for him. The door opened as Swain stepped aside to let her walk in before closing the door behind her. She stood just a few feet from the entryway as he stepped up behind her and clasped his hands on her shoulders, making her jump slightly. "A bit early, but you came as I commanded." Mikki nodded as she glanced back at him with wary eyes. He let go and walked in front of her this time, standing inches from her as she gazed at his covered face.

"I'm sorry for my behavior earlier." Mikki said gently as she bowed her head in submission as he continued to gazed down at her. She felt a hand on her chin as he lifted back up so that she may face him once again. "Something happened once I left. Tell me, how well did he take having a time limit to persuade you to turn against me?" Mikki's eyes widened as he ask this, realizing he was on to Irannius's plan already as she swallowed what courage she might have had to banter a bit with him before divulging the whole account to him. "Not very well. Didn't think he liked being stunned either." She informed him as he released her chin and started walking further into his home, leaving her to follow after him.

It was familiar till they took a different route on the main floor and walked down a hidden flight of steps that lead to a basement underneath his home. It was cold and dark as only a single lantern lit the stair way till they reached a slightly cracked wooden door and watched as Swain opened it and walked inside. The librarian followed him closely through and noticed the room they were in looked like a dungeon, chains strewn across the floor, an old chair with straps made to hold a struggling man down, and other various instruments of the pain inducing persuasion she could see. With yet another worried look, she looked to Swain as he continued to move through the room, ignoring the apparatuses as he opened another door on the other side of the dungeon.

This next room was small with a round table with several chairs placed around it, one of them filled with someone Mikki really didn't want to meet again so soon. LeBlanc was sitting with her legs crossed elegantly in front of her in one of the chairs as she looked up at Swain and Mikki, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the two of them. "What's this about, Jericho?" She asked him as he pulled the door shut behind them and faced the Deceiver as Mikki stood still next to him, curious as to why they were all here. "You'll get your answers once the librarian and myself take our seats." Swain told her promptly as he pulled a chair out for the librarian before moving to the last seat and situating himself behind the table to face the two ladies.

Around the table, each of them were equal distance apart, forming a triangle so that they had equal sight of one another. "There had better be a good reason to have this child here." LeBlanc spat as she glared at Mikki, as the librarian lowered her head down in reaction. Swain coughed to grab the Deceiver's attention from the girl as he replied to her inquiry. "Of course there's a reason on why she's here, Evaine." He gazed between the two of them as Mikki raised her eye brow at what Swain called LeBlanc. "So what was it you wanted to talk to us about?" The Matron questioned further as Swain slowly narrowed her eyes at her in warning.

"With all the activity the past couple months occurring due to the involvement of a particular Adjudicator, things have become…unstable as of late." He stated as LeBlanc nodded in agreement, Mikki staying silent as she listened intently to each word he spoke. "In fact, some of these events were cause due to both of you willingly helping him achieve what he wants because it suited one's needs and out of pure naivety that he could be trusted." This made both girls flinch as they looked at each other, though still not trusting of each other, but both slowly agreeing they did something to royally tick off Swain. "One of you already got their punishment, but the other now has to answer for what she's done." He was glaring at Mikki as she stared intently at the table top in front of her, grimacing at the fact that she did willing leave without telling him. "Well, what was your reasoning for leaving the library yesterday after you sent me on that chase for dear Evaine here?"

Mikki gulped lightly before turning her head up to face him, but just slightly as she felt the dark gaze on her from both Swain and LeBlanc. "He said I need to get away from the library and Noxus for a couple days." She started to say as both the champions sat perfectly still in their seats, almost like they were evaluating her. "He asked questions I couldn't quite answer. Things about Swain and myself." Swain smirked under his bandana as he heard this and waved his hand for her to continue. "He also told me he was the reason I got added to the potential champion list and was also the one that put me through the Proving Grounds against Malzahar." LeBlanc coughed as she stared at the librarian with wide eyes. "He actually summoned you and pit you against the prophet of the void?" Mikki nodded in response as LeBlanc laughed at the idea that she might have had a hard time facing an experienced champion.

The librarian looked irritated at LeBlanc as the Matron ignored the look and kept chuckling to herself. "What else have you learned while you were 'visiting'?" Swain asked, also ignoring LeBlanc's laughter as Mikki sighed and mulled over the memories. "He wishes to stop you in what ever plans you hold for Noxus." Mikki looked at the Tactician with some wary curiosity. "Whatever you did to him left a negative impression on him and I think it's the cause of why he's trying so hard to sabotage the plans you might have." Swain said nothing to confirm or deny what she thinks is the reason, but instead looked to the Matron, who has calmed down from her laughing fit. "Evaine, you told me yesterday that you saw our dear librarian in the company of Demancia's Prince Jarven along with Garen and Lux, correct?"

The deceiver game a mischievous smile and nodded. "Yes. I was quite surprised how they actually tried to help her over just simply watching me attacking her so openly." Mikki's eye twitched for a moment before turning to Swain. "I think they would have seen to getting us both out, but I was already leaving before you knocked me back into the prince's feet. Except Lux, she doesn't hate me like the other two." She said then turned her attention to the Matron. "But then the Adjudicators came just after I told you to leave the cafeteria." LeBlanc raised her head and gave her a huff of disproval. "I only left because you had those Demancians by your side." Mikki tilted her head slightly as she glared at the Deceiver with much irritation. "They knew I wasn't going to be a problem, but they know you and how much trouble you cause when you distort yourself on top of someone." She muttered at the Matron as LeBlanc got up and placed her hands angrily on the table, obviously looking to have a reason to attack Mikki once more.

"Enough!" They both jumped and turned each of their attentions to Swain once more as he watched the two of them with neutral irritation. "Take your seat, Evaine, this is no place for your petty squabbles with Arabeth's birth daughter." LeBlanc blinked at the Tactician in confusion before looking between him and the librarian. "Birth daughter? I thought she was just a stray Arabeth adopted nearly fifteen years ago!" Mikki also looked confused at the turn of events before her. "It was a lie to keep Mikki from joining the Black Rose. She is truly Arabeth's daughter, though she just doesn't look like her except in size and mannerisms." LeBlanc looked like she went pail beneath the make up on her face at the news as Mikki looked to Swain for why he was bring up something she wasn't aware of.

"My mother lied about me being her child?" She questioned softly as he nodded in response. "It was to keep you safe in secret. She, much like myself, was part of the Black Rose, but left almost 25 years ago for unknown circumstances to stay permanently at the library." He explained to both of them, watching their expressions go from confused to shocked at the information he was telling them. "That much I knew, but you found out the reason for her leave?" LeBlanc seemed almost memorized by the turn of events that unfolded. "Of course, you've already met the reason for her leave." He motioned a hand to Mikki who sighed and tilted her head back. "Oh, of course, indeed. Can't be in secret societies when conceiving a child." Mikki put sarcastically as she glanced at Swain, raising an eye brow at him. "So why was it she claimed I was adopted, then, since you're being so unusually open about this?"

He gave her a hidden smirk under his bandana when he replied to her. "You already know the reason to that." Mikki drew a blank for a moment, thinking of all possible reasons till it hit her as she gave him a small 'ah' in response. LeBlanc, on the other hand, looked between them for more clarification, but none came out of each of them. "Well, what is the it then?" The Matron looked irritated as Mikki shook her head. "Not your concern." She said bluntly as she crossed her arms in front of her. The Deceiver wanted to flash over the table and force her to tell, but a quick glance in Swain's direction curbed the thought. "But does my history have to do with anything, Swain?"

"Nothing except to clarify to Evaine here that you are, in fact, the blood daughter of a former member of the Black Rose and should be treated with more respect as such." Mikki felt a blush start to form, but repressed it as she glanced at a seething LeBlanc. "She's not getting any respect from me, not for the humiliation last night, regardless of who her parents were, Jericho!" A bold statement, but one that was expected as Mikki just shrugged at the obvious dislike towards her. "Besides, shouldn't she be getting punished and not just interrogated like this?" Yet something the librarian wasn't looking forward to hearing, especially not from the Deceiver. The Tactician only looked at LeBlanc with narrow red eyes. "I'd like to get my answers before the memories of tonight become just a simple thought." It was apparent that he wanted to make sure Irannius didn't get anything from Mikki like he wanted.

Mikki refrained from rolling her eyes at the thought as she was once again put on the spotlight as she continued to sit in the chair, facing the two of them as they each held different expressions. "For today, Irannius showed me around the Institute, talked to Vladimir and Ezreal, at different times of course, and then you, Swain, found us in the Adjudicator's Lounge room." She put it as simple as she could and watched Swain intently as he held a neutral face under his bandana. "Then, once you set the time for tonight's meeting, he panicked and had me chose whether or not to help him stop you." This pulled a reaction from both the champions. "And what did you chose, curiously?" He mused, already knowing the answer, but asked regardless. "I wouldn't help him." She said, her voice had a hint of sorrow from the memory of when she left the Adjudicator behind in his room.

Swain noticed this and raised an eye brow at the suggestion Mikki would have help him, if the seeds of his constant presence didn't keep such thoughts of betrayal at bay coupled with her personal pacifistic nature. On the other hand, LeBlanc merely scoffed at the librarian. "Guess being forward scared you off from his 'scheme', didn't it?" The librarian ignored the question as she kept her gaze to Swain. "Now that I'm here and told you everything, what do you have planned for my disobedient behavior?" She wanted to get it over with and after seeing what happened to LeBlanc, she wasn't looking forward to whatever punishment he might have in store for her.

Swain got up and slowly moved around the table and stood next to the librarian, gazing down at her now submissive form as she kept her eyes shut and her head down, facing the table. "So eager to get it over with, perhaps I should hold off till you least expect it." Mikki flinched at the thought, but kept quiet as he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her up off the chair so that she was standing in front of him. "You're like the books in your library. So easy to read, predicable." He slowly moved the same hand from her arm to her chin, raising it and watched as her face slowly turned from the irritable look from earlier to fear in his grasp. "This will serve as a permanent reminder of what will happen if you disobey my command again." He muttered as he raised his right hand high above her head and swung down the left side of her face.

Instead of fingers, Mikki felt sharp piercing claws scrap down from just above her eye brow all the way through the cloth of her robes on her shoulder, as the fabric was torn all the way down to just above her collarbone. Pain burned her freshly gouged skin as she knelt down, her left hand trying to cover what Swain has inflicted onto her face. Warm blood was seeping through her fingers as she stared blankly at the floor, shocked from the clawing she received. He just missed her eye, but deep red lines of cut skin surrounded the eye and nicked the side of her mouth and another just a bit closer to the side of her head while four slash marks on her left shoulder started to bleed freely as well, staining her robe further. In the background, she could hear LeBlanc laugh with glee at the sight of the bleeding librarian. "You look much better this way, librarian!" She said mockingly to the younger girl as she continued to stare at the ground below her, watching the blood start to pool on the stone floor.

Once again, her upper arm was grasped once more as she was pulled off the ground by Swain. Weakly looking up at him, still holding her left hand over her injuries, Mikki grimaced in pain at him as small tears started to stream down her face. He showed no emotion to her as he started to drag her out of the small meeting room and back out to the dungeon. "You may leave now, Evaine. You got what you wanted." He said to the Matron as he continued to pull the librarian through the dungeon and up the stairs to the main floor. She was stumbling as the blood lose was making her head spin and vision blurry while being lead to what she saw was a kitchen and pushed forward in front of a water basin in the corner of the wash area.

"Clean yourself up." He told her as she weakly nodded at the water and slowly placed her left hand to the water, feeling the chilling liquid on her skin. With some effort, she splashed the water over her injured face and shivered at how cold it was against her warm bloody skin. Her vision kept blurring in and out as she gently rubbed the gouges, still feeling some of the blood flow, but not as much as just a moment ago. It hurt to touch it, but she needed to clean herself off as she slowly slipped out of her robe so that she may wash off her bleeding shoulder as well. While her face had three claw marks, her shoulder sported four since the last claw was just outside of scratching range on her face. Looking around, she found a small pile of towels and started drying off and using them as temporary bandages against her face and shoulder and noticed Swain was no longer with her.

Mikki was at a loss for what occurred as she slumped down against the basin, still holding the towel to her face and covering her self up with the other towels to keep from getting cold. She was cold, injured and tired as she started to doze off till she felt something prodding against her leg to get her attention and looked up to see Swain holding a couple bandage rolls and some large patches. "You look pitiful, get up and show some pride." He growled at the librarian as she struggled to get up, leaning against the basin for support till she was on her feet. He pulled the towels from her shoulder and spun her around so she was facing the basin again. Setting the roll and patches down, he started to unravel the first one and place it on the edge of where he caught her and started to wrap the bandage over her shoulder and across her chest in a pattern.

With the first roll used up in covering half her shoulder, Swain reached for another roll to finish covering up the rest of the wound on her shoulder. "Let this be a lesson to you, Mikki." He muttered in her ear, feeling her shiver at the tone he used as he had her turn back around to fasten the bandage together before picking up one of the patches and opening it. "While I can tolerate your inability to inflict much harm willingly to any one person, but being lead to disobeying orders is not something I will not tolerate out of you." He continued to tell her as she gazed down at the floor as Swain applied a thin patch to the first cut on the side of her face.

"I apologize." She mumbled as he placed the second patch on the cut that just skims the outer side of her left eye and down the middle of her cheek. Swain opened the last of the patches and placed it over the last cut that just missed the inner corner of her eye and nicked the edge of her mouth. Once the last one was on, her slowly moved a finger over her lips, making them quiver as she watched him with weary eyes. "It hurt, didn't it? Much more that just the physical pain I inflicted." He whispered to her, caressing the unmarred side of her face now as she slowly gave a slow nod against his hand. "How long has it been since those seeds took root?" Mikki gave a bit of a groan before answering him. "Eight year, Swain. Ten if you count the years Mother never let me near you when you first started visiting the library."

He smirked beneath his bandana at the answer as he guided her up to the top floor, but instead of leading her to his room, he showed her to a guest room that was prepared for her. "You should rest here for the night. You lost quite a bit of blood and I believe you wouldn't want your employees asking why your face is covered with patches." She looked to him with concern in her eyes as he opened the door for her. "So you don't want me to return to the library?" She asked him as she gazed at the interior of the elegant guest room. "Not for a while. I want to make sure those wounds heal up a bit before you go back."

He seemed concerned for her, but something told her otherwise as she walked slowly into the room, before turning to face him once more. "What will I do for clothes? You shredded the shoulder of my robe." He pointed to a small dresser that sat next to the bed. "There should be some clothing that'll fit you in there. Now, rest." He closed the door behind her as she moved slowly to the dresser and opened it, looking at the various robes inside. With a shake of her head, she quickly closed the drawer and wobbled over to the bed and collapsed on top of it. She was tired, there was no denying that as she shifted around till her head was on a pillow and her bandaged body was underneath the thick covers. A few moments later, she drifted back off and fell asleep unaware she was still being watched.


	28. Chapter 27: Shadowing Doubt

Chapter 27: Shadowing Doubt

She may have fallen asleep quickly enough, but her body refused to let her stay that way for long, her consciousness drifted in and out of reality and dream as Mikki laid on the overly soft bed that the guest room had. Her shoulder and face throbbed with pain each time she was awake and aware, making her cry softly with regret before drifting back off. The librarian hoped this was all just a bad dream and that she'll wake up in her own bed, unscathed and safe from all harm that befell her. But, as the case was, it wasn't happening.

At some point, she must have fully stayed asleep as a loud knock sounded on the guest room door, pulling her from her dreamless sleep. From her right side, Mikki flopped onto her back and groaned at how much it hurt to even move. Another knock, another silent groan coming from her mouth as she slowly sat up, pulling the blanket with her to cover her bare body. She knew who it was and wanted to deny him the satisfaction of disturbing her, but she was his guest, not the other way around. With deliberate slowness, she got out of the bed, keeping the blanket wrapped around her shoulder and chest like an oversized cape, and opened the door and saw Swain standing there, holding her torn robe from last night.

"You left it in the kitchen last night." He murmured to her as she sighed heavily and gently reached her right hand and took the robe from his hand. Looking at, it still was heavily stained with blood on the left shoulder and had spots down around the bottom of the robe. The shoulder was shredded as well and beyond her repairing abilities. Mikki made a sour face as she continue to stare at the tattered robe and jumped when she felt a hand on her left shoulder, feeling it throb under the pressure of his hand. "You should get cleaned up and re-bandaged again. I'm sure the one this shoulder is already bled through the wrappings and the patches look like they're about to fall off."

Mikki couldn't see the patches, but she could feel them slightly hanging barely onto the scars they cover. Looking back up at him, she noticed he didn't seemed concerned, but was just here to remind her that he made those wounds and wanted to make sure she cleaned them up nicely so that when the bandages come off, everyone can see what was done. The librarian took a step back from his reach as she continued to stare at him with a mix of fear, distrust and irritableness. For some reason, she couldn't get any further than that with her emotions as she pulled the blanket tighter about herself. "I'll head back to the library and do that, then." She muttered at last at him as she turned around away from Swain and raised a hand so a rune would start to form, but none came.

"The twenty four hours between casts is a bit of an inconvenience, isn't it?" Swain mused as he stepped up behind her and pulled the blanket away and wrapped his arms around her bare waist, setting his chin on the top of her head. He felt her shudder in his grasp as he pulled her into him, listening to her whine weakly. Despite being topless, the librarian still had a pair of pants on to at least keep mostly covered, but her chest was exposed to the cold air that linger in the room. The bandage was indeed bleeding through as he thought as he felt her struggle against his grip on her. "Calm yourself. You've done nothing else to incur my displeasure and I wish for you to keep it that way." He whispered to her as she slowly stop moving in his arms, obviously scared to do anything against him.

With that, he slowly lead her to the master bathroom where water was already sitting in a large bowl on the floor next to the counter and fresh rolls and patches where sitting on the sink near by. He guided her to a stool that was also next to the counter and had her sit down on it. "I'm going to start with your face then your shoulder." He told her as he pulled the loose patches off, making her flinch at the slight tugging on her skin from the patch's adhesive. Mikki nodded slightly as she watched him pull up a wash cloth from the bottom of the bowl and rung it out before he started to dab at the exposed cuts.

The cloth was warm against her cold skin as she sighed at the feeling, almost calming down from just a moment ago, as she closed her eyes in content. He lingered on the inner most cut that nicked her mouth, gently giving her lower lip a quick stroke with his thumb before moving on to the next cut in the middle. Her mouth twitched when he did that as he smirked underneath the bandana. "Enjoying yourself?" He inquired as she opened her left eye to look at him. "Perhaps, but I'm still upset at you." She muttered back at him at last after holding her silence for so long.

Swain soon finished up cleaning the cuts on her face, drying her face off with a spare towel and started applying the new patches over them before moving on to remove the blood stained bandages from her shoulder. Mikki grimaced at the smell the wounds were giving off as he now started giving that shoulder a good hard scrubbing. "What exactly did you get me with?" She asked him, seeing as he attacked her so fast she didn't have time to register what clawed her so hard. He stopped and glanced at her for a moment before continuing. "Nothing you should worry about as long as you do as you're told." The answer wasn't what she was looking for as she gave him a slight huff of disproval and looked off to her right, staring at the mirror that was mounted on the counter.

Her reflection showed the patches running down the left side of her face, making it seem awkward as they surrounded her eye and lined the side of her head. The thoughts of how she would explain them ran through her mind as she winced on occasion due to a tender spot being touch with the warm wash cloth. "Easy…" She whispered after the third soft spot was hit. "Perhaps you'd like to finish this yourself then?" He countered to her, watching her mouth thin in irritation and said nothing till he was done wrapping the new bandages around her shoulder.

With that done, Mikki wrapped her arms around her still bare chest as she stood up from the stool and looked to Swain. "I'm going to get dressed." She mumbled as she padded away through his room, passing Beatrice who cawed at the librarian, and to the guest room and shut the door behind her. Looking to the dresser, she sighed and slowly moved over to it and started digging through the clothes that were inside. The smell of dust assaulted her nose as she wonder how long these robes were sitting here, unused, and who originally wore these robes in the first place. Picking up one she thought she might like, she stood up and realized it was a bit longer than she was and laid it across the bed and repeated the process with the next few robes.

Each of the robes where just too long for her to wear. With a twitch of an eye she picked up the closest one and put it on, seeing how much of it will drag along the ground as she stood there, feeling how loose it was compared to her normal set. Pulling up so that she may move, Mikki reopened the door to find Swain standing there waiting, with Beatrice sitting on his shoulder as usual. "Finally decided, did we?" She shook her head at him and pointed down to the overly long robe. "I need to make some adjustments to it. Don't suppose there's a pair of scissors somewhere for me to use to remedy this?" This earned a curious look from Swain as he showed her to an unused crafts room where she soon found the object of choice to fix her problem.

With a quick gauge of how much she needed to trim off, she quickly got out of the robe and started on her quest to shortening it, ignoring Swain's intensive stare of amusement as she clipped away at the fabric of the robe. The new edge of the robe was neatly aligned to just around her ankles, but with time, will fray without proper needle work. Setting aside the cut off hem and scissors, she put back on the robe and glanced herself over, making sure it looked alright. "You look fine." He commented as she spun around on the spot before looking in his direction. The robe she wore was a dark maroon with gold bands around the sleeves and waist accented by black swirls for decoration.

Mikki sighed softly as she looked to Swain. "I should apologize to whoever owned this robe." He gave her a slight chuckle before stepping up to her as she stared at the cut off hem. "You needn't worry about it. What you should do is fix your hair before you accompany me to one of my meetings this afternoon." He was right about that, her hair was tangled in quite a few spots and with the length it was at, it would take roughly five minutes to straighten it all out. But that wasn't what she was worried about. "You want me to join you for a council meeting?" Perplexed as she was, the librarian was highly curious as to what they would discuss at such gatherings.

Swain gave her a hidden smirk as he slowly pulled once more at her curiosity as the Tactician gave her a quick nod of approval. "Of course." How else was he going to keep an eye on her while he conducted his own business. "You'll be an observer for the day. My shadow of sorts." Beatrice cawed at the librarian as she looked up at him in awe that he would offer to show her what he did. "Now, go fix your hair. It's a rat's nest." Swain watched as the librarian padded away once more with more grace than before. _'So it's come to this.'_

-Same morning, Institute of War-

"What a fool..." Irannius muttered as he kept watch with the magical connection he held on Mikki. He started watching her the moment she left his room with her teleport rune and, because of that, she couldn't leave Swain's side in the morning. Her interrogation and punishment made him wince as he realized what happened to her was very similar to what might have happened to his close friend months before. "He truly is a monster." With her face and shoulder clawed the way it was, he was surprised that she didn't attack him back or run away, till he saw what transpired in the kitchen. Eight years at least he's been filling her mind with his 'kindness' towards her and even with his true colors starting to show, she still stays with him.

Even as Irannius watched from the moment the librarian was awake, he saw that Swain was intent on keeping her by his side. Cleaning the very wounds he inflicted upon her, it was disgusting how 'nice' he was being to her. Not only that, but inviting her to shadow him through a Noxian Council meeting, didn't Swain realize he is going to see everything as well? No matter, he would eventually find out what the Grand General was planning in due time and even without Mikki's willing help, she's still being useful by going to this meeting for him. "Show me what you're planning, monster!"

* * *

The carriage ride to the meeting hall was nerve wrecking to say the least. Swain explained what she will do and that she's to not speak a word while they were there. Many questions arose, but none made it to her mouth as she sat facing him in the small carriage. The robe still felt awkward, despite the fact it no longer drags on the ground, and the sleeves were slightly longer, but she was still grateful that it would hide the cast on her right hand. As for the patches on her face, she fixed her long hair to drape over the left side of her face, covering them to some extent as the rest of her hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail. It looked odd, but she's seen worse from some of the summoners and students at the library. A slight part was made so she could still see past her dark brown hair as she glanced out the small window next to her seat, seeing all the buildings they were riding passed.

"It'll be at the same building that the social event was held." Swain told her as she turned her attention back at him with a slight nervous look. Her memories of that place was, to be precise, awful. Her lips thinned at the thoughts as she nodded lightly. "If you're nervous about it, just remember you'll just be in the background, not in front of a large crowd." This did nothing to ease her mind as she sighed and nodded again, listening to Beatrice caw at her for being such a wet blanket. "Not helping, Swain." She muttered as they pulled up to the familiar grand hall.

The difference between this visit and this one before is vastly opposite of one another, but the shakes still settled itself into Mikki's bones as they briskly walked up the steps and through the main doors. It looked the same as before, just without the large crowd around as they moved towards one of the meeting wings and stopped just in front of the door. "Remember, just stand along the wall behind me, there will be others like you there." He quickly reminded her as he pushed open the door and strolled inside. The room held an oval table that held easily twenty seats, but only a fraction was already occupied by some of the councilmen. Looking around, she noticed there were, in fact, other observers, mostly female with the occasional guy among the ranks.

"Grand General, so glad you could show up so early, I must speak with you before the meeting starts." One of the older gentlemen said as he took a bow before Swain and glance off to the side at Mikki and raised an eye brow with a curious look on the man's face. "I see you brought yourself a cute observer at last. Didn't think you'd ever get around to finding someone to replace that brute you so precariously enjoy bringing to scare the rest of us to death." Swain coughed to grab the man's attention once more as he motioned for Mikki to stand off to the side with the others. "She's just here for today. Don't get use to it." He told the man as he gulped and nodded. It wasn't just her that got the chills when he wanted something to be followed.

As Mikki moved to stand with the others, she realized she was being watched by both the councilmen and the usual watchers of these meetings. Holding a neutral face was becoming increasingly more difficult as she stepped up next to the wall and turned to face the room. As more of the council arrived, so did more observers or assistants that lined up along the same wall that was behind the Grand General's chair. The meeting soon started shortly after the last seat was filled and, in her opinion, was the dullest thing she ever heard as she stood there. Discussing the state of Noxus and it's citizens may have been important, but the librarian could have easily deduced most of what they talked about without a council meeting.

This went on for easily a couple hours till the subject shifted to something a bit more serious that had the councilmen nervous. "Recently, I've been informed that there were a couple Demancian spies roaming the edges of Noxus as of late." Swain told the group as they started to mutter and chat amongst themselves. Mikki noted he said 'were' and wondered who he sent to dispatch the spies he mentioned. "These sighting have been occurring more frequently since you became Grand General, Swain." Another councilmen mentioned as some of the others nodded in agreement. This was really quite an issue, but something felt off about it.

There was a heavy cough next to her, startling the librarian as she turned to see one of the servant girls covering her mouth to try and muffle the noise. It wasn't enough as the whole council was looking her direction as well as those they stood with. "Damn child, I told you to take something for that cough!" An ornery man said as he got up and strolled over to the coughing girl and slapped her. She was crying now as well as coughing as she tried her hardest to stop. Mikki saw no one make a move to stop the man from abusing his servant as she made a quick glance to Swain, who was watching the interaction as well. He noticed Mikki's expression and beckoned her over to his side. No one was paying attention as she sided up to Swain and leaned in close so that he may whisper to her what he wanted done. "Set one of your stun runes under the man and get the child out of the room. Be sure to be quiet when you return after you take care of the girl."

With a quick nod, Mikki faced the man who was yelling at the bawling servant and raised her left hand in the man's direction as a red rune form underneath the councilman, stopping him from further interrogating the girl in front of him. "That's quite enough of that." Swain told him as Mikki quickly walked past the stunned councilman and pulled the girl up to her feet, gently tugging her away out of the room. On the way out, she heard various murmurs of 'what did she do?' and 'isn't that Swain's observer?' just before guiding the girl out of meeting room and down the hall before she stopped to check on the girl. "You alright?" She asked gently as the girl kept rubbing at her face as tears flowed freely from the young girls eyes.

"O-of course not!" She yelled as she backed away from the librarian into the hallway wall. The girl was shaking heavily as she slid down to the floor, still crying from the abuse. Mikki moved next to her and gently rubbed her shoulder in sympathy. "You don't have to go back in there." The librarian told her as she heard a heavy sniff followed by another coughing fit. "I know I'm not going back in there!" She muttered loudly as she pushed the librarian away, knocking her onto her butt, and started running for the main entrance. She was at a loss for words as the girl disappeared down the hall. How was she going to explain this to Swain and the servant's master?

With a sigh, Mikki got up off the ground, dusted herself off and turned down the hall back to the meeting room. She stood in front of the closed door and took a deep breath before slowly opening it and slipped inside, closing the door just as slowly as quietly as she could manage. "You there! Grand General's watcher. Where's my servant?" The ornery man from before must have been watching the door and was disrupting the meeting with his outburst at Mikki as she faced him, her eyes narrowed in response. Swain disrupted the stare down as Mikki turned her attention to him, watching him call her over to him. "Grand General, I wish for her to speak at once!"

Swain ignored him as several of the other councilmen gave the man irritated looks as Mikki stepped up to Swain's side once more. "Well?" He asked her as she sighed softly. "She wasn't feeling well and left." She replied to him as he reached a hand to caress the right side of her face. "That'll do." She blushed lightly at the touch before she moved back to the wall with the others. "Now, without anymore interruptions, we will continue." The subject was different than when she left the room and was once again not interesting to her in the least. Though, while she was standing there, the librarian could feel the occasional glance in her direction as the whole room knew now that she was Swain's. _'You'll be in the background, he said. Kind of hard to do when I'm standing next to you and taking orders in front of other people for your sake.'_

The rest of the meeting went by without anymore hitches as she watched the councilmen and their assistants leave the meeting room, leaving her and Swain to leave last. Walking back through the grand hall to the front, Mikki kept a good foot behind him and slightly off to the side as they briskly walked to their carriage. Once inside, they sat facing each other as the carriage traveled back to Swain's estate. "Was it what you expected?" He inquired as Mikki thinned her mouth a bit and nodded. "Unbelievably dull, though, I did miss the report on the Demancian spies." No sense in not trying to pry as she moved the strands of her hair off her face so she could properly see him, letting her patches show once more.

Swain's eyes were closed as Beatrice cawed at her mockingly. "It's best that you didn't hear about that. Such dreary business." Mikki's eye twitched in annoyance as she watched him from her seat. "Still, what that councilman did to his servant…" It made her a bit sick knowing that there were other's that act like that to their disobedient followers. "You helped prevent any further commotion from that, you should be proud of yourself." A blush formed across her cheeks, but quickly put the complement aside. "I just did as I was told, that's all." She was trying to keep herself humble at this point, trying to retain her neutrality. "Yes and you did so admirably." He told her as his eyes opened and met her's as she was still looking at him.

Quickly, she turned her head away and stared out the carriage window. Swain was pulling the strings he held so tightly around her as she grimaced lightly from the look he was giving her. "Still a bit touched about last night?" He mused as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Y-yes." She muttered, wrapping her arms about herself as if to shield herself from him. A hidden smirk played across his face as he continued to watch the pouting librarian. "Perhaps I should remedy that." He intentionally whispered so that she would turn to face him again cause she couldn't quite hear what he said. He took the opportunity to gently grip her chin lightly, pulling her towards him as she had to get up and was lead to sit across his lap, side saddling so that her right side was closest to Swain's chest. "S-swain?" Still gripping her chin, he used his other hand to remove the bandana and pulled her into a kiss.

Swain pulled her into a hug, trapping her hands between their bodies as he held the kiss on her lips. Upon release, Mikki's face was flushed red and was shaking in his hold. "Swain, please, I can't take this anymore." She stuttered as she tried to push away from him, but his grip on her sides was stronger. "Have you truly become that afraid of me?" He questioned as he continued to keep his grip on her shaking form. The librarian stared at him, appalled at his question as she gripped his robes in response. "You attacked me for something so…so unreasonable!"

The patches she wore only covers the tip of what he cause last night and she was upset over it. The broken hand she could deal with in time, but Swain mauled the left side of her face and shoulder over her leaving the library for a couple days and those scars will stay for a much longer time and be harder to hide as well. He was looking over her irritated face as he slowly let her pull away and back into her seat across from him. "I see." Was all he said and the left the rest of the carriage ride in awkward silence.

Once the carriage stopped, Mikki hopped out and started out away from the estate instead of towards it. She felt Swain's hand grab at her right arm as he turned her back around to face him once more. "The library can wait till your injuries heal over." He told her as she glared at him. "And just who put them there in the first place? I'm going home!" She forcefully pulled away and started up the teleport rune that became available to her on the way back. "Are you really going to do this, Mikki?" He questioned her as she turned to face him, stalling the teleport for just a couple moments. "I will if you're not going to explain to me why you insist on babying me so much as of late." They just stared down at each other before the rune fully activated underneath the librarian, transporting her away from the estate grounds.

Swain watched as the purple rune disappeared from the ground as he turned away and walked to the front door of his own home. "Not quite yet." He muttered to Beatrice as the raven gave a caw of agreement.


	29. Chapter 28: Reclusion

Chapter 28: Reclusion

Unlike her return from the hospital with her arm in a sling and greeted by good friends and employees, this time around shocked everyone that saw her upon arrival in front of the library. Mikki didn't try to hide the fact she was upset or that her face wasn't how it was a couple days earlier. This scared her employees as they were cleaning up for the night as Mikki dismissed them and gave them the week off as an apology to them. The following days were filled with patrons asking what happened and each and every one of those answers never came to light as the librarian would ignore and dismiss any questions pertaining to her current situation. Even with word spreading to the usual champions that visit on occasion were brushed off the same way. "I'm not in the mood to discuss why my face is covered in patches."

Also during that week, not a word came from Swain or Irannius and that further disturbed her as she was certain that at least one of them would try to talk her out of this. But no one came as the rest of the month passed by without issues and the patches were no longer used as now three red scars lined down her face, showing all the wounds that grace her face. Her shoulder was thankfully always hidden under her daily robes but the occasion twinge would happened whenever someone tapped it or clasped their hand down on the scars. She knew she was worrying her employees as they brought sweets to share with her when they noticed she was just blankly staring around at nothing in particular.

Around late January, Mikki started taking open naps in the lounge room as she felt drained of any energy, despite not being disturbed by anyone. By early February, she paid the Noxian hospital a visit to remove the cast from her right hand at last, letting her see the old stitching scars they had to make when fixing up the bones in her hand. All the scars in such a short time, yet it stopped almost instantly when she walked away from Swain that day. Her thoughts were a mess over it and it was driving her insane because no matter where she looked, she saw the marks that they left on her. _'What am I going to do?'_

* * *

_~Alone Mikki stood in a room with one side covered in red and the other in blue, unable to move or speak as she stared blankly at the white door that stands before her. She had no clothes on and her hair hung loosely around the small of her back, exposing all the scars and bruising she had acquired just a couple months ago. A pair of hands gripped her own as she saw from the corner of her eyes Swain on her left and Irannius on her right, both smiling gently at her. _'Not again.'_ She thought as she felt them tug her towards them, like a human tug of war. _'Why must they act like this?'_ The librarian tried to tell them to stop, but her words never came out as they pulled her harder, trying to bring her to their side. _'No, I don't want any part of it!'_ A dark flash flared beneath them as a blood curling scream issued from her mouth at last.~_

* * *

"Mikki!" Rosaley yelled as she walked into the lounge room where the librarian was laying back across one of the couches, shielding her eyes with her left arm. The red head pouted at the sight as she turned to the two champions behind her who stood just outside the archway to the room. "I'm so sorry about this, you two. She's been out of it for weeks now." Ezreal just smiled and waved his hand gently at Rose. "Don't worry about, I'm sure she's just resting her eyes." With a slow nod she looked to the second champion and raised an eye brow in curiosity as to why he was here as well. "It just…seems a bit odd that you'd want to visit Mikki, Prince Jarven." She muttered softly as the prince scowled lightly.

"It's not your concern, young summoner." He told her as Ezreal walked up to the librarian's still form and looked down at her. The explorer smiled lightly to himself before nudging her left hand gently, watching it twitch in response, but didn't 'wake' her. "Mikki, there's a special guest to speak with you if you would give us your time." He whispered as she murmured at him incoherently, still keeping her eyes covered with her left arm. Ezreal looked over the lounging girl before him and spied her right hand laying across her stomach. A quick glance to see if she was paying attention, he reached over and gently touched the scars that lined the back of her hand.

His hand was caught by Mikki's left hand as he looked at her face to see her grimacing at him. "I really wish you wouldn't do that." She whispered to him as she released his hand and started to sit up, her hair flowing back over her shoulders as she no longer wore her usual pony tail. Ezreal gave her a weak smile as he watched her turn her attention to the Demancian Prince that stood behind them. Jarven looked shocked to see the girl's face the way it was now, no longer unblemished, but scarred and worn. "What's wrong? You act as though you haven't seen scars before." She said to the prince, obviously not amused by his reaction to her current look. She got up and straightened out her robe with her hands before turning back to Ezreal. "What are you trying to do by bringing him here?" She questioned him as she rubbed at her eyes to wipe away the sleep that still lingered.

"He wanted to cheer you up." Jarven answered for the explorer as the librarian turned back on him and looked at him with wary eyes. "He told me you like to scribe our adventures as champions." This made her look a bit more relaxed as her eye brows raised ever so slightly. The whole idea was for Mikki to stop moping as she has been and get back to how she was before everything happened to her, or at least, that's what Ezreal was aiming for.

The prince and the librarian's last encounter with each other wasn't on the best of terms as they were staring each other down in the Institute's cafeteria area, yet here they stand facing each other in Mikki's domain. She tilted her head slightly and nodded to what Jarven told her, the edge of her mouth twitching slowly into a weak smile. "I suppose it's been a while since I had a good scribing session with a different champion." She mused softly as Ezreal beamed happily at her and gave Jarven a thumbs up for making his plan work. "Let me grab my quill and a stack of paper, then." She said as she strolled past the two champions and up towards her apartment.

As the librarian turned the corner from the lounge room, Prince Jarven turned to Ezreal who now took a seat at one of the chairs in front of a coffee table and narrowed his eyes at him. "You sure this is a good idea?" He muttered as he moved and took a chair next to the explorer as the blonde nodded. "It may seem odd at first, but she really defines the opposite of what a Noxian is to most of us." He explained as he looked up at the ceiling above. "I, too, found it odd when she greeted me like a good friend when I first came here about a year ago. But, as I started visiting more often, I found she always expresses herself like that, till just recently." He voice softened and frowned at the ceiling above.

"So what did happen to the girl then?" He inquired the younger champion as Ezreal shrugged. "The most from what anyone can gather from her is that it had to do with Swain, but she won't speak a word of it." Jarven gritted his teeth at the mention of the tactician as he leaned back into the firm plush chair. "Those scars were probably created with his twisted abomination of a raven form." He muttered quietly, knowing the form all too well himself. Ezreal peered at the prince and sighed softly. "Just don't mention it to Mikki when she gets back. She had a panic attack the last time I brought up Swain or her friend I saw her with back at the Institute." Jarven nodded in agreement as they sat in silence waiting for the librarian to return.

Moments passed before Mikki returned, paper and her quill and ink set in hand on a small portable writing surface. "Sorry for the wait." She said as she moved to the couch that was on the other side of Jarven and sat down, setting up her little writing area on her lap. The champions both looked to the librarian and noticed she straightened and pulled her hair back and washed her face off, making her look much less dreary than before. They both watched as she pulled aside a single sheet of paper, uncapped the inkwell and dipped her quill into it then looked to Jarven, showing eagerness in beginning. Ezreal nudge the prince and nodded. "She's all set to start, so pick a story and just go with it." The younger champion whispered as Jarven cleared his throat and began.

* * *

Several hours passed as Mikki eloquently wrote down word per word of what Jarven said as he recounted his time on the fields of battle. The whole scene attracted some of the usual patrons as they sat around and listened to Jarven, entranced with his stories. Ezreal's plan seemed to work as the librarian kept a gentle smile the whole time as she continued to illustrate Jarven's tales onto paper. With a quick glance at the time, Mikki sighed softly as Jarven answered some of the questions of the on looking patrons. "It's about closing time." She said as she looked to Ezreal, who moved to sit beside her after the first story was told.

He looked as well and nodded, but then smiled at the librarian. "Perhaps, but I'm sure today was a good day, right?" He asked her as she nodded slowly. "Yes, it was." Mikki yawned as she stretched her legs under the portable surface and picked it up so she could stand. Ezreal got up with her and gently lifted the surface with all the paper and ink set from her hands. "I'll take this back up for you if you wish to speak with Jarven a bit longer till you kick everyone out for the night." Mikki gave him a bit of a 'but..but…', but he was already heading upstairs to her apartment with it as she sighed at his back while he turned the corner out of the lounge.

While still talking with the patrons, Jarven watched what Ezreal pulled on Mikki and gave a slight chuckle at the sight of the bewildered librarian. "Alright, alright, I think that's enough question answering for today." He told the crowd as they sighed and awed at him as he stepped up behind the librarian and tapped her right shoulder gently. Mikki glanced back and up at Jarven, still looking a bit flustered with what the explorer did. "Done already?" She asked as she turned to face him properly while keeping her gaze up at his face. He nodded and gave a small huff of disbelief at her. "I never thought I'd see you again but, yet, here I am telling you my little adventures." Mikki raised her right hand over her mouth and giggled lightly at what he told her. "I would have to agree but I'm glad you and Ezreal came today. I haven't felt this happy in a while." She gave him a grateful smile, holding her hands behind her back as she rocked on her feet slightly from the feeling.

Jarven gave the girl a bit of a perplexed look as he watched her. "Guess Lux and Ezreal were right about you, but something Ez mentioned seemed a bit odd. He told me you haven't been yourself lately and I think I know why." He told her as Mikki's smile slipped at the mention on her current inner turmoil. "You should talk to someone who knows the situation of what you're going though. It's not healthy to dwell on the past that left marks." He advised her, the librarian's expression slowly turned to a grimace as she now stared at his chest.

"I wish I could." She murmured softly as she turned away from him. "But the moment I leave the library, something will happen. I just know it." The sickening feeling was starting to swell inside of her as she spoke to the prince. Her mind was slowly becoming a mess of memories as she wrapped her arms about herself, trying to shield the horrid feeling away. With her eyes tightly closed, she didn't notice Ezreal returned from dropping off her stuff as he pulled her into a tight hug and leaned his head next to her's. "Nothing will happen to you if you don't let it." He whispered to her as she tried to pull away from his grip.

Ezreal let her go as she stumbled a bit backwards, but slowly recovered her stance as she looked to the explorer with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Ez. Still jittery over physical contact." Her voice was shaky with nerves as she looked around to see if anyone was watching before spying the clock on the wall and sighed. "It's time for me to lock up for the night." She muttered to the champions as they nodded lightly. "Of course. We'll leave you to your tasks then." Jarven said as Ezreal gave her a weak wave while they walked out the front door.

With the last of the patrons out of the library as well, Mikki started to feel lonely once more as the feelings dredged up from the talk with Jarven started to take hold once more on her mind. She leaned against the closed front door and started to cry silently to herself. Pitiful and weak, that's what she felt. Hiding in the library was doing her no good, even with the occasional good day, it wasn't enough for the emotions that now ran rampant through her thoughts. Tears streamed down her face as she slowly moved away from the door, but not before a knock was made, startling her. The librarian whirled around and peered though the peep hole and shuddered, obviously not in a good way.

"No."


	30. Intermission: Connecting the Dots

Intermission: Connecting the Dots

Mid January 23 CLE

_Perhaps this storm started before she realized it was happening._

Mikki was busying herself with putting books back into their proper places while her employees were on break for the afternoon. A long sigh escaped her mouth as she reached up to gently touch the edge of one of the scars upon her face. She had known Swain for far too long, but when he was inducted into the League was when things started becoming more active around them. Almost two and a half years, by her calculations. _'So much was done, yet there was probably more to it when he stopped visiting for that short amount of time.'_ A grimace crossed her face at the memories as she proceeded to place another book into it's place.

01 October 20 CLE

It was getting late as a less worn looking Mikki was finishing up sorting the returned books into their respective piles before placing them onto the cart for further sorting once the library was closed. A tap of a familiar cane announced his arrival as the librarian smiled and bowed her head in greeting. "Good evening, Swain. What brings you here just before I close up for the night?" She inquired as Swain's raven cawed at the girl in greeting. It's been a couple months since she's seen him and his sudden arrival seems to indicate that it's something important, but will probably not be fully explained to her.

"You're doing well, I see." The Tactician said, completely ignoring her question as Mikki furrowed her eye brows in frustration before sighing at him. "Is there something I can help you with?" She pried once more, in hopes of getting a straight answer this time. He hobbled up to her and watched as she put the last of the sorted books onto the cart. "Not tonight. I came to tell you that I won't be visiting for quite a while." The librarian looked at him and tilted her head slightly to the side in question. "You've been doing that already and now you visit to tell me you'll be gone even longer?" It was a frustrating concept to her as she crossed her arms in a disproving pout at him.

Swain nodded before picking up a hidden stray book off the counter, looking over it's faded cover. "I figured you'd enjoy the fact that I'll be spending my time over at the Institute of War for a while, seeing as I will be going through their precious 'judgment' to become the newest champion of the League." He watched as the librarian's eyes widened at what he told her and smirked under his bandana at the reaction. "I can't believe it. Is this why you've been gone for so long in the first place?" She inquired as she moved to take the book from Swain to put it with the rest. "Of course, though, I will call on your services when I need them still. You might have to travel a bit to deliver the books when I send requests for them." The thought seemed to worry the girl a bit, seeing as she hardly leaves the library and, even less, outside of Noxus.

"O-of course." She muttered and sighed heavily at the prospect of going outside the library to the Institute. "But, please try and not make it a frequent habit, Swain. You know I can't leave for long periods of time." Mikki told him as she started making her rounds through the shelves, placing the books into their respective spots. "As long as you understand. For now, I need to take my leave." Swain replied to her as he turned to walk out the front doors. The librarian frowned a bit at his sudden departure, but it was to be expected of him. _'I suppose I should be happy for him.'_ Why did it feel as though he would call on her services much later on in the next year?

21 April, 21 CLE

Mikki received a letter the night before from Swain requesting she gather specific almanacs and census records on Noxus for the last 20 years. The pile was extensive and would require at least a couple hand bags and a backpack to carry it all to where he wanted them brought to. "The encampment outside of Kalamanda, largest tent. Really now, you want me to travel with this many books all the way out there?" She muttered fruitlessly to herself as she held the letter in her hand while standing next to the packed up books. With a sigh and a motion of her hand holding the letter, a purple rune formed underneath her and the packed up books as they disappeared and reappeared on the edge of a fairly large encampment with Noxian banners everywhere.

The sight before her was filled with activity, despite how relatively early it was in the morning. Soldiers lined up in rows doing training exercises under a heavily armored man with a rather large axe. Mikki paid the group no mind as she picked up the two bags at her side and trudged in the direction of Swain's tent where he said it would be. _'Rather large tent indeed.'_ It was situated where if Swain were to step out from the tent opening, he could see all of the camp without issues at all. The librarian inhaled slowly before calling his name, assuming he was even inside. Before she got his name out, a hand clasped down onto her shoulder, making her jump and drop the bags. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw Swain standing behind her, flanked by a couple of guards. "S-swain, little warning, please." She stuttered at him as she leaned down and straightened out the books in the bags before picking them back up again, still flustered over being startled as she was.

Swain waved the two guards away and motioned for them to step inside. "Unpack the books on my desk if you will." He told her, leaving her to the given task and taking a seat behind the desk he mentioned. The librarian gave him a slight huff before neatly placing the books on his desk on either side of his writing area. "First letter from you in months and the first thing you do is get right to business." Mikki muttered as she straightened the piles to have the titles facing Swain. "No chit chat, small talk, just business as usual." The last book was a private book for herself seeing as she would like to have at least some conversation with him before she had to return. "A Noxian does not dawdle, Mikki." He replied sternly as she took up a spare chair near the entrance of the tent.

"Of course." She cracked open the book in her hands as she watched Swain from the corner of her eyes take the top most book and opened it. "Though I really must inquire why you need these specific books?" Mikki was trying to strike up a conversation while looking seemingly interested in her own novel. "It's not your concern, child." He said, now taking notes on a piece of paper as he scrawled various figures and numbers. Just before she could make a retort, she heard Swain's name being called just outside the tent. "Enter."

A tall young man walked through the tent's entrance and was looking over Swain, watching him take more notes from the book he was currently looking though. "I see you have yourself a bit of light reading." The boy commented. He was wearing what looked like a mix between summoner's robes and the Noxian battle robes. "It is crucial that I have them. They're almanacs and census of Noxus dating back the last twenty years." Swain replied to the summoner as he tilted his head slightly with curiosity. "How did these come to be in your possession?" The new comer asked, but before Swain could shrug it off, Mikki cleared her throat before speaking.

"That would be my doing." She mused as she looked at the summoner's slightly shocked face seeing as he over looked her. He had hazel eyes and short shaggy brown hair with a neatly trim goatee she saw now that he was facing her at last. "You two haven't met before. I advise you introduce yourselves to one another." Swain said, almost like an instruction as the summoner smiled lightly at the suggestion. "Well then, my name's Irannius. Pleasure to meet you miss…?"

"Halsnight. Mikki Halsnight." She returned the kind smile as she closed the book in her hands and set it into one of the bags next to her. "And to answer your question, I lent him the books. The Noxian Library is allowed copies of all census that High Command issues and there's plenty of almanacs lying around." She explained to him as he nodded at her response. "So you're a librarian?" He inquired gently, but before Mikki could reply, Swain was already there. "She's the Head Librarian, Irannius." He told his summoner as he did a quick look over what he has already written down.

Irannius blinked once before turning to face Mikki once more. "My apologies, how long have you known the General?" It was obvious he was as curious as she is. "For a couple years now. He's definitely one of the library's most prominent patron. Also likes to drop by unannounced…"

"I'm finished here, Mikki." Swain interjected as she turned to face the Tactician with raised eye brows. "I'll arrange for all your possessions to be returned to the library with utmost efficiency. My summoner and I have much to discuss it seems." Mikki wanted to stay, but she knew better than to ignore a command from Swain as she stood up and bowed slightly to him. "Thank you, Swain." She said softly before walking passed Irannius and out of the tent. Slowly, she wander back to her port rune, watching a small bit of the training exercises the soldiers were doing before reactivating the rune to return home.

_"I met him that fateful day. Who knew there would be trouble brewing after that encounter."_

19 June, 21 CLE

Couple months have passed since her visit to Swain at the Noxian encampment to deliver the books, which she still had to have returned to her. Mikki sat behind the Information and Checkout counter, all alone in the library as she read a novel to pass the time. It was mid afternoon and no one came to the library this day for some reason. 'I wonder if something happened?' She thought to herself till the sound of the front door opened, followed by footsteps walking straight up to the counter. "Hello, I take it this is your establishment?" The person asked as she reached for her bookmark and placed it between the pages before looking up at the figure.

"You would be correct." After taking in the person's face, a thought crossed her mind as she looked at him. "Wait, I think I've seen you somewhere before." She said softly as the summoner nodded. "You would be correct as well. My name is Irannius and we met a couple months ago. I'm Swain's prime summoner." He paused for a moment taking in the librarian's reaction before continuing. "You are Mikki, correct?" She frowned and nodded slightly, remember bits of that fateful meeting. "Yes, I remember now. He has yet to return the materials he borrowed over a couple months ago." Mikki narrowed her eyes slightly at the summoner before her. "Where are they? I hope he doesn't expect those books to return themselves." She muttered as Irannius also gave her a look of irritation.

"Well, I haven't come here on his behalf and I'm his summoner, not his errand boy." He explained to her as she held her expression of dislike on her face. "I have a very important matter of my own to deal with and I would very much appreciate your assistance." A moment of their silent glaring continued before he softened his expression. "Please." Mikki eased up on her own expression and sighed softly, not wanting to turn him away for something so small when he needed something. "Very well then. How can I help you?" She asked him gently, setting the book in her hands aside and standing up.

"I need to browse all the volumes you have on binding spells and how to counter them." Irannius told her as she raised her eye brows at the subject he was inquiring about. Mikki nodded lightly before walking out from behind the counter. "It appears you and the General have similar tastes then. He's had that same request for a long time now." Mikki beckoned him with a hand as she started to the section where the books would be. "But, I don't let those books leave the library. Follow me."

The librarian lead the summoner though the rows of neatly placed books, slowly making their way to a small study lobby and showed him to a desk near the desired section. "Wait right here for a moment." She told him as he seated himself into the chair and watched as she pulled book after book off the near by shelves and stacked them around him. "Anything else?" She asked him. Irannius shook his head and pulled down the first book. "This will suffice, thanks again." She smiled lightly as he started to read the book and started heading to the kitchen. Food might come in handy sooner or later.

With no other guests or patrons visiting, Mikki found herself milling around where Irannius was pouring over the reading material she set before him. The librarian would try to glance a peek over his shoulder, but quickly found she was a bit too short to do that and even tried asked him gently and received no response. She would heard the occasional frustrated noise from him, but nothing more than that till the sun set below the windows. "Damn it!" Irannius muttered loudly, startling Mikki from the book she picked up an hour ago.

He was silent as he sat there in deep thought that he didn't notice her presence behind him till she spoke. "How's it coming?" She asked him curiously, hoping he would give her an answer this time. Irannius turned on Mikki with a startled look on his face, seeing as she did sneak up on him. When he saw who it was, his face relaxed slightly. "Well, for one, you startled me. Two, I've found that nothing here is going to help me." He told her as he looked back at the cluster of open books before him. The librarian sighed a bit before looking at a near by clock. "You've been here for quite a while and it's getting late. I actually have to close up the library for the day." She told him softly.

Irannius looked up at her before getting up to face her properly. "My apologies, would you like some help with that?" He motioned to the pile on the desk as he watched the librarian smile a bit at the thought. "That's very nice of you to offer." Together, they placed back the extensive pile of books into their proper place on the shelves near by. He offered to help with various other duties around the library while making small talk and laughing at each other's jokes. Mikki couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun talking with someone from out of Noxus.

"Is that all of it?" He asked as they finished cleaning up around the front counter area. "Yep that should do it." She replied as she turned to face him. "Where you heading off to now?" She asked the summoner gently while watching him rub the back of his head a bit in exhaustion. "I have no clue. It would probably be excruciating to try and cast one last teleport for the day." He said as he stretched out a bit. "But I would like to have gone back home to the Institute." Mikki pondered his situation and crossed her arms in front of her in thought. "I might be able to help you. I don't typically do this for everyone but I could teleport you back if you like." She offered to him.

Irannius beamed at the news. "Really? That would be great! I didn't know you were capable of magic like that." He exclaimed as he watched Mikki reach her right hand out slightly in his direction. "Let's just say it runs in the family." She mused to him as a purple rune quickly formed underneath the summoner and teleported him to just outside the Institute. Once that was done, the librarian yawned loudly and headed up to her apartment for the night.

_"We were just getting to know each other. What was going on that would make him hate Swain and myself so much?"_

Mid January 23 CLE

"Mikki! We're back from break!" Rosaley called out as the red head found her employer around the back shelves, placing back returned books. Mikki turned to see her and smiled a bit. "Alright, I hear you. You don't need to tell me you're all back." She said softly as Rosaley sided up to the head librarian and started on another shelf. "It's been quiet for you. I'm surprised you're not feeling better yet." She told her, looking over her shoulder to see Mikki shudder lightly before recomposing herself. "I just don't know, Rose, I just don't know…" Early next month, Rosaley got a hold of Ezreal in a match and told him what was going on and left the Explorer to figure out how to cheer up the broken librarian.

_**A/N: Now, for those that noticed, this is a recap chapter for those that read The Black Rose Letters by Dargonax. And for those that haven't read his story, this chapter just explains how Mikki met Irannius in the first place, from her perspective. Also, as a fair warning, there will be another intermission chapter while Dargonax catches up his story.**_


	31. Intermission: The Employees

Intermission: The Employees

"You sure this is okay?"

"Of course, she's not around."

"Still think this isn't such a good idea…"

The kitchen was packed with summoners for their afternoon lunch and the three employees were busy making a large group meal for when Mikki returned from the hospital that day. "It's been nearly two months and our employer hasn't exactly been hiding the fact she hasn't been eating much lately." Rosaley pointed out as she stirred at the pot of soup that was slowly cooking in front of her. Jean and Saline both nodded in agreement as they packed up basic utensils so that they can eat out at the Information and Checkout counter.

"I wonder if the nurses will give her some grief over the scars on her face?" Saline mused softly as she wrapped up another set with a napkin.

"More than likely. Remember how much grief we gave her when she came back with the patches on? I bet they'll want to look at those gouges and make sure it's not infected or something." Jean said dryly as he finished putting a small half sandwich into a baggie and placed it into the basket.

Rosaley grinned at Jean and poked his side, making him wince and glare at her angrily. "You're always so serious, Jean. Try and chill for a while."

The male summoner scoffed at the red head and crossed his arms at her. "One of us has to be serious, Bilgewater girl." He muttered at her.

A small hand connected to the back of his head as both Rosaley and Jean turned to see Saline standing behind the male summoner. "That's enough out of both of you. We got a lunch to finish before Mikki returns." Saline may have been the youngest of the three, but she was quite commanding, despite her wallflower demeanor. "It's been nearly three hours since she's left and will be back soon." Both of the arguing summoners nodded and finished up what they were tasked with.

It was almost one in the afternoon when Mikki returned to the library, looking obviously harassed and annoyed. "Welcome back!" They chimed together as they watched the librarian's expression lighten up a touch.

"Thank you." She replied softly at them.

"We made lunch." Saline told her as she motioned to the basket that sat behind the counter as Mikki sighed a bit.

"You really didn't have to do this…"

"Of course we did!" Rosaley piped up as she grabbed at Mikki's left hand and pulled her around the counter to where they had a small desk hold the lunch. "We're celebrating the fact you got that horrid cast off!" The red head was overwhelming the weak librarian as she closed her eyes and bowed her head in defeat.

"I really can't stop you guys, can I?" She mumbled as Jean pulled out all the food containers and handed everyone a container full of soup.

"Not really." Jean popped open his own container and started sipping at it. "You hired us and gave us work, so now we're just repaying your kindness with this." The girls nodded in agreement to his statement as Mikki smiled weakly while staring down at the soup.

"You all are too kind."

A crash sounded through the library as everyone jump from the impact the object made. "What was that?" Saline was scanning around down the halls and looking for where the commotion came from.

"It would a downed shelf." Jean said as he hopped over the counter and darted to where a small group of summoners were fleeing from.

"We're sorry…"

"Our friend…"

"Trapped under the shelf!"

They were all chatting at once as Jean tried his best to calm the group as the girls made their way behind him as one of the frightened summoners lead the crew to the site where one of the larger shelves was crashed over onto a row of desks that was near by. Despite the hardiness of the desks, it wasn't enough as they broke under the weight of the heavy shelf, leaving only a small space between the shelf and the floor.

Muffled cries came from underneath, announcing where they were. "Hold on, we'll get you out of there." Jean and Rosaley started towards the broken desks and moved the ones that are still intact away so that they could reach the top of the shelf.

"On three!" Rosaley said as both she and Jean slipped their fingers into a couple spaces between the shelf and desks. Once 'three' was said, they both grunted as the shelf just wouldn't budge. "It's so heavy."

"The books are still on the shelves on the other side." Mikki told them as she started pulling out loose books from underneath to see a couple summoners, now unconscious. "Not good."

Saline tapped Mikki's left shoulder, making her jump up and almost knock her head into Saline's. "I got some of the patrons so that we could do a group lift and have a couple others pull the trapped summoners out."

It was a sound plan as they directed each of the patrons around the top and sides of the bookshelf. "LIFT!" The group pulled at the edges as it slowly creaked and groaned under the pressure of the still shelved books on the outer side. "Easy, the back might collapse on top of them." One inch, two inches, slowly the shelf was gaining height as those not helping with the lift tried to slid under the shelf to start pulling out the trapped patrons. "Little higher! We need to clear the books off them before we can move them."

The moments past with very high tension in the air as the group holding up the shelf started to struggle to keep a hold of it. "How much longer till they're out?" Jean muttered at the librarian, who was slipped between him and Rosaley, pulling out more books.

"We almost got their legs free, but they need to be moved slowly so they're not hurt any further." She replied to him as he groaned at the response.

"Oh, no. Take your time. This is only the heaviest thing I've held in a long time." Rosaley chuckled at Jean's sarcasm as Mikki slid back underneath the shelf to see if she and a couple other can now slowly slide the unconscious summoners out.

A couple more moments past as the first of the two summoners was pulled off to the side. "That's one, but we need to get the shelf a bit higher to untrap the legs of the other one!" Some of the patrons by this point gently switched off with those that came in to help and had them slowly lift the shelf a couple more inches.

SNAP!

The middle part of the back of the shelf broke as the books tumbled though on top of the unconscious summoner and those still underneath, including Mikki.

"Shit!"

"Mikki!"

No response was heard. The shelf, ultimately, was now lighter and easier to lift up as the group pushed it the rest of the way to an upright position. The pile of books was just as extensive as before, but at least this time, a larger group can move the books out of the way faster. They managed to clear off the top layer before movement shifted more out of the way as Mikki poked her head out from the pile.

"You're alive!" Rosaley exclaimed as she shifted more of the books off her employer and helped her out of the mess.

Holding her hand to her head, Mikki nodded at the red head. "It's not the first time I had books fall on me." She muttered as she glanced back at the pile as another group found the summoner under what they realized was a Barrier Spell.

"I set it up earlier incase that happened, but I didn't think it would catch you." Saline started to apologize as Mikki raised her hand to make her stop.

"You kept the right person covered, that's all that matters." Mikki told the young summoner, watching Saline's face beam under her thick blond hair and glasses.

With the two summoners pulled off to the side in the area's lobby, Mikki set a green healing rune under them and herself as she sat between them, sharing the same rune. The employees, along with some of the more dedicated patrons, started to pile the books into neat stack along side the broken shelf and pulled the broken desks to an unused room. It took most of the evening hours till Mikki had to close up the library for the night.

"Now, remember this next time you decide to lean on the shelves again. Next time might not be so kind." She warned the two summoner that were trapped as they both nodded weakly and walked out of the library, shakened.

The librarian turned around and found Jean holding out a pastry to her. "Since you didn't eat lunch, have this." Gently, she took it from his hand and unwrapped it.

"Thank you, Jean." Her stomach growled in appreciation as she took a bite of it and chewed.

"I'm gonna get Nasus to help with the shelf tomorrow since it's a bit much for just us to fix, alright?" He asked her as he watched her take another bite of the pastry.

The librarian nodded her head lightly. "That'll be fine. It's been a while since something like this has happened." She had a somber look on her face as they finished up sweeping the dust and debris in the area.

Once they were done with what they could do, the employees left the library together and teleported back to the Institute of War. "I think Ezreal should pay another visit. Her depression's getting worse." Rosaley commented as they strolled through the halls to the summoner's quarters.

"Perhaps and maybe someone new. You know, that isn't Noxian." Saline added to Rose's thought.

"Either way, I'm going to find Nasus to help us out with that broken bookcase. It's gonna take us all day to even fix that if we don't get the help." Jean muttered as he strolled off dutifully in the direction on the summoning platforms.

Rosaley grinned at Jean's dwindling form. "I think he just wants to do a round of summoning. Think we should join him?"

Saline giggled lightly as they started after their fellow coworker. They would have a long, frustrating game with their champions of choice, but victory was theirs that match.

**_A/N: This is the last intermission chapter for the time being. Thank you all for being so patient with me and my slow updates. The next chapter will put us back on track and hope you've enjoyed the glimpse at the going ons behind the scenes._**


	32. Chapter 29: Revelations

Chapter 29: Revelations

Once Mikki left Swain's side, she was no longer Irannius's concern as he created a clear connection to the Grand General himself. Yes, Swain was furious with the librarian, much like how he was the night before, but he didn't pursue her back to the library. Instead, he watched the Tactician pace around the entry room in deep thought, though, of what he could not figure out. Swain soon stopped pacing around and made a bee line straight to his personal room and started writing down instructions which would soon be delivered out to whom it was meant for. He was hunched over the paper as he continued to write, almost as though he knew Irannius was watching him, keeping the words hidden from view. Swain soon finished and rolled up multiple scrolls and sealed them. "What are you up to?"

The next morning, he had a messenger sent out to deliver each of the letters as he returned to his regular duties as Grand General, no longer occupied with keeping an eye on the young librarian. More droll meetings were held over the course of a month and a half and the occasional visit to the Institute of War for various meetings with the council there with other champions present. The end of January peaked Irannius's interest as he saw a cloaked figure arrive at Swain's estate, holding what looked like a small box about six inches across to the Tactician as he peered inside before nodding in approval. He gave the individual a pouch of what could only be his payment and watched the figure disappeared from sight.

"Now, what could that be?" Swain never opened the box again as he looked to check the calendar he's been marking on the past month and a half as Irannius saw that all the slashes were leading up to a day that was circled in red, but wasn't marked anymore than that. "Early February, wouldn't that be around when the librarian's cast comes off?" He thought to himself as he ended his session of watching the Tactician and leaned back into his chair. He shook his head of the thought and now got up to pace around his room. "He's biding his time, but for what? That object in the box?" It infuriated him that Swain was still being so secretive even though no one was around him.

By the time the day that was circled came around, it looked liked Swain was just going about his normal routine till the evening hours hit. He dressed himself in his Grand General outfit and gathered the box he hid and held onto it under his left arm and left the estate on foot with Beatrice on his shoulder. It took a moment before he realized the direction Swain was heading. "ENOUGH! I'm not going to sit by any longer!" Irannius ended his scrying session over the Tactician and began casting a teleport spell.

* * *

"No, why are you here?"

Mikki clawed at the door as she continued to peer though the viewing hole. Her left shoulder and face both panged in reaction as she stared at the Grand General standing in front of the door. He was wearing his formal grand general attire while his raven sat on his left shoulder, cawing loudly while they waited for her to open the door. "Leave me alone, Swain!" She cried loudly through the door, knowing he would hear her just fine. He made no movement to leave or advance as she sunk down to the ground behind the door, sobbing heavily through her hands. "Just go away!"

Swain may have heard the librarian's attempts to make him leave, but he was here to get her to see reason. Two months he gave her to calm down from their little spat outside his estate and he wasn't going to turn back now just because she asked. From what he's discovered though his 'connections', she never recovered to her previous personality and hasn't been taking care of herself for some time. "Mikki, let me see you." He said at last, just loud enough for her to hear though the doors that divide them. He heard her cry 'no' once more and listened to the sobbing the librarian was doing. "You know I can do no harm to you here, so why are you so scared?"

Mikki was torn that he was even trying to get back to her, whether it was to claim her once more or to make up for what he's done, potentially both. "Isn't it obvious to you, Swain?" She yelled at him as she clawed once more at the door in silent anger. "You may not be able to physically harm me, but your words are still able to cause more harm!" His presence alone threw her into this turbulent flurry of emotion in her mind and she didn't want it to continue any further than it's already gotten.

It was obvious to him that she would act like this. With a silent sigh, Swain moved to the right wall of the door, tracing a hand over the bricks that make up the wall before stopping over a slightly loose brick and pulled at it, watching it slide out from it's spot. He moved the brick to his left hand and reached into the hole, feeling around till he withdrew his hand holding a key. "I wonder if she knew of this key?" He mused to himself before replacing the brick back and moving back in front of the door. "I'll ask again, let me inside, Mikki." He said in the same tone and volume, holding tightly to the key as he awaited her answer.

"NO!" Mikki slammed her small hands into the ground as she shuffled on her knees to back slowly away from the door, just wanting to retreat to her apartment and ignore him completely. "You leave me no choice then." She heard him say as a soft click was heard as she stared up while the door was pulled open, revealing Swain staring down at her. He was holding some kind of parcel under his left arm and holding what she saw was a spare key as Beatrice cawed at the librarian angrily. "Didn't think I would have to use your mother's spare to get inside." He muttered at her as the girl panicked, launching herself onto her rear as she scooted away from him and hit the Information and Checkout counter with her back.

Swain closed the door behind him and relocked it for privacy. Turning back to look at the librarian once more, he realized her skin was pale and her body much thinner than a couple months ago. "You haven't been eating and it's taking it's toll on you." He commented as he heard the girl's stomach reply to his statement. "Are you trying to starve yourself to death? The spell you hold so dear won't hold out much longer if you keep denying yourself the energy it needs to stay intact." Mikki gritted her teeth at him, but it was an empty threat as he stepped closer to her, now clearly seeing how much looser her robes have become. He stood just inches from her feet as he stared down at the frightened girl. "Cease this pitiful display and get up. We have much to discuss."

With that, he started to move towards the west wing as Mikki watched with wary eyes as he turned the corner before getting up slowly from the ground, using the counter to steady herself as her legs wobbled underneath her. She traced his steps and found him in the kitchen, scanning through what she had and pulling out cold fruit drinks. Beatrice cawed to signal her arrival in the kitchen as he turned his head towards her while pulling out a straw from a cabinet and placing it into one of the glasses. "Took your time, as usual." He said as he walked over to the librarian, holding the glass with the straw in hand. "You're probably too weak to eat anything solid so drink this for now." He offered the glass as she looked at it with narrow eyes before carefully taking it from him, avoiding any physical contact with his hands.

Swain was right about one thing, she was becoming weaker and it showed. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably under her as she stood there, just staring at the glass. He did nothing to the drink, that much she saw as she stepped away from him once more, putting another foot between them again. "Why are you doing this now?" Her voice was shaky as she spoke as she tried to lean herself against the wall by the entrance where she stood. "Wasn't two months enough time to yourself?" He countered as he made a move back to the counter where he placed the small box. Mikki made a small noise in protest as she now watched him pick up the box and moved it to the table between them. "Drink and take a seat. I'll continue once your glass is half empty." The Tactician was obviously trying to get her to build up energy to stay awake as she grudgingly sipped at the juice through the straw and slowly took a seat across from where he sat himself.

The Grand General deemed the amount of juice missing to be enough as he kept a hand over the box in front of him, watching the librarian's wary stare at both him and the object on the table. "Seems the pervious events has changed you for the better. Not so open to jump at every new thing so eagerly." He mused as Mikki flinched at the statement, almost glaring at him for the said change. "You're beating around the bush, Swain." She muttered at him angrily. "What did you come here to tell me?" His presence was making her emotions act irrationally, but something else tugged at the back of her mind that wanted him to stay and stall their talk. A shift under Swain's scarf told her he was smirking at her as she continued to glare at him. "You've been a bit anti-social as of late and I thought you'd enjoy the small talk before I explain why I'm here."

A twitch tugged at the corner of her mouth as she set aside the glass and clasped her hands in front of her, leaning forward on her elbows. "That's besides the point." It was conflicting to sit there and just speak with him. On one hand, she detested his very presence and wanted nothing more to do with him, but on the other hand, something needed him to be here and tell her to stop hiding like a coward. Mikki eyed the box he brought and raised an eye brow in his direction. "What you're hiding from me in the box is why you're here. Why don't you just tell me what it is and get it over with?" She was starting to rush each of her sentences, obviously wanting to get this encounter over with.

Swain chuckled at the change as he pulled the box closer to himself. "You're getting closer, but not close enough to reveal it to you just yet." He was teasing her, watching her squirm under each of his responses. The librarian was struggling, that much he could see, as a twitch of her mouth or eye gave away how much she wanted to jump at him and force him to tell her, but the small part of her that still has any respect for him was holding her back and it made him grin at how much of a hold he still has on her._ 'They are so similar, but she's still mine.'_ He though as he pointed to her glass. "Take another drink and think harder." Beatrice cawed in mock laughter as they watched the librarian unclasp her hand from in front of her and pull the glass to her again.

It was frustrating, but she couldn't help but do as he says. Another quarter of the juice was downed before she set it aside once more. The box was small but it could easily store anything: Small weapons, jewelry, or a trinket. Small items in general. Swain was openly making her think about it and enjoying each second it took for her to figure out whatever it was he had. "I'm not going to play this game." She muttered at him as she moved to get up, only to have Beatrice fly above her head and cawed down at her. "Bloody bird." Mikki sent a glare at Swain, obviously wanting him to call off his raven from harassing her back into her seat.

"We're not done here and Beatrice is just bored of sitting on my shoulder." He told her calmly. Of course, the second part was a lie as Mikki waved at the raven to leave and sent another angry stare in his direction. She knew as well and it made him chuckle at her silent defiance as she slid down the chair and avoided Beatrice's swoops as she stood up a seat away from where she was before, now standing up right. "Bored my hide, Swain." She hissed at the Tactician as she strolled to the kitchen's entryway. "You can see yourself out." The librarian added as she started towards her apartment.

Beatrice was following her, but she ignored the six eyed raven as Mikki made her way up the stairs to the second floor of the library. Taking a quick glance down below, she found Swain was slowly trailing after her. Without another thought, she quickly strolled to her apartment door and slipped inside, leaving the raven to caw and claw at the door as she locked it. "No key to open this door." She muttered to herself as she turned to face her apartment room and paled. "I-Irannius!?" There he was, sitting patently in her writing chair, looking bored from waiting. This night was just becoming her nightmare unfolding into reality.

A twisted grin graced his face at the sight of the librarian as she stood against the door she just locked to keep the Grand General and his bird out. "Evening, librarian." He said calmly as he stood up and walked over to the shaking girl before him. "Seems my hunch was right about him coming to visit you." Mikki turned back around and fumbled with the lock, but wasn't able to unlatch it in time as he gently slipped his hand under her's and pulled her back around to face him. "Oh no, I won't have that." He mused cruelly as he waltzed around her, putting himself between her and the door.

"What are you doing?" Mikki asked him franticly as the clawing from Beatrice stopped and familiar footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door. Irannius held both of the librarian's hands as he kept her facing away from him. "I'm here for answers and you're gonna help me." She was struggling against his grip, but she was too weak to pull away. "Why can't either of you leave me alone?!" She yelled, knowing both the Adjudicator and the Tactician would hear her. With a 'tsk', Irannius shoved her away from the door and watched her stumble to her knees. "Pathetic." He mumbled as he glanced at the door behind him, noticing that Swain was now standing outside and unable to come in. "What's wrong, Grand General? Can't handle the librarian in her own home?" He asked loud enough for Swain to hear his question.

With no key holes on the outside door handle, Swain narrowed his eyes at the door in front of him as Beatrice returned to his left shoulder and cawed once more. "What a coincidence that we should had need to speak with the same person on the same night." He replied through the door. A chuckle could be heard from his former summoner. "That's where you're wrong. I'm not here to speak with her…" The Tactician closed his eye in acknowledgement at what his was doing. "I see." An all knowing grin crossed his face as he opened his eyes once more. "But if you think keeping Mikki at your side is going to help you, you're a fool."

Irannius gritted his teeth at the remark Swain made and stomped over to the librarian. Mikki was dusting herself off and was swaying lightly on her feet from the sudden movement as she looked to the man in her room with wide eyes of worry and fear. The look made him smile darkly at the girl, obviously enjoying the sight. "You look just like you did when he gave you those scars." He watched as she kept skirting his advances and noticed she was trying to get back to the door. With a quick stride, he blocked her path and shook his head at her. "You think you're being clever?" It was the librarian's turn to grit her teeth in frustration as she tried to keep the distance between them longer than arm's length.

"I want no part of what either of you are trying to do." Mikki muttered angrily at him as she tried to keep the distance between them, but her legs were about to give out and he noticed this. With a swift lounge, he caught her right wrist and twisted her back around as he pulled her into a gripping hug, wrapping her arms with his around her. "Now, be a good little hostage and join me next to the door so that I may continue my decision with the Grand General." Irannius pulled her back towards the door once more, still keeping her facing away from him and the door. "As for you, how about you tell me what you're planning?" Irannius called back towards the door at Swain.

"Whatever do you mean?" Swain was openly feigning innocence to the question as he continued to stand outside the door. "I know you're up to something, whether it has to do with this child of a librarian or Noxus itself." The Tactician merely chuckled at the Adjudicator's curiousness of what he was planning. "If you haven't figured out why I keep Mikki around, then you don't deserve to know what else I'm doing." Not like he would give any hints in the first place to the Zaunite that dares oppose his leadership. The sound of frustration and urgent shuffling reach his ears, drawing a satisfied grin to his face beneath the mask.

Irannius was trying to put a tighter grip around the librarian's throat with one of his hands, but with the pacifism spell still holding, he was only able to put uncomfortable pressure over the wind pipe, making it slightly difficult to breath. A thought crossed his mind as he shifted the weakly struggling librarian so that he had a solid grip to both her hands with his other._ 'Wait, I'm able to get this far under her pacifism spell?'_ Mikki was weak as it is, but he didn't think it would affect the spell this much. A devious grin crossed his face at the revelation. "Perhaps you'd like to rethink your answers. I might just end up snapping this girl's neck or do you prefer choking?" What came next worried him as he heard Swain laugh manically from the other side of the door.

"You think I didn't notice how much weaker her pacifism spell was when I arrived here?" The Tactician inquired as he tapped the ground with his cane in front of him. "Though, I must warn you, Irannius, if she dies, we will get caught in the library's destruction." Listening to further muttering in the inside of the apartment and overhearing the Adjudicator trying to get Mikki to tell him why that was. With the lack of noise from the librarian, he assumed she was very close to passing out. "I would suggest easing up. You won't kill her, but getting answers from a passed out person isn't easy." Swain mused at the Adjudicator. A slam on the door indicated that Irannius wasn't happy to hear that from him.

With another shove, Mikki stumbled back to the middle of her apartment once more and gasped for air. The room was moving within her vision as she kept knelt down on the ground this time and glanced back at Irannius who was still arguing with Swain through the door. _'Why?'_ She didn't understand what it was Irannius had against Swain, but, then again, neither of them told her anything about what happened. Just when she thought she'd be able to just stay on the floor, a tight grasp on her arm pulled her back to reality as Irannius pulled her up and dragged her again once more to the door.

With a click, Irannius unlocked the door to the apartment and opened the door to face Swain, glaring at him with seething hatred. "Step aside or I will kill her here." He snarled at the champion before him as he pulled Mikki in front of him and pushed her past the threshold and started down to the main floor of the library. The Adjudicator glanced over his shoulder and found Swain had taken the bait as he continued to steer the librarian towards the entrance of the library and motioned for her to unlock it. The Grand General kept a fair distance from them as Mikki fumbled weakly with the lock and pushed open the door, almost like she wanted to bolt away from both of them but didn't have the energy to do so. "Now, Mikki, walk to where you had that fateful run in with LeBlanc." He commanded her as she weakly grimaced at him before setting off around to the back of the library.

* * *

_~Everything was falling into place.~_

Everything was a haze for the librarian as she shuffled and tripped over the slightly uneven ground of the forest behind the library. Irannius was easily less than a half foot behind her at all times, keeping a tight grip to her shoulders, making sure she wouldn't run away or just stop and fall over. Swain, on the other hand, was roughly fifteen feet behind both of them, watching carefully and calculating each possibility that could happen this night. A few more steps were taken before Irannius spun around and aimed a suspension spell at Swain, now that he and Mikki were both outside the pacifism spell's range and Swain just stepped out of it as well. "Perhaps now you'll tell me what you're planning…" Irannius said with an amused tone as he held the librarian close again, now able to keep a much tighter grip on her arms. "Or would you enjoy watching her die by my hands?"

Swain just laughed at the Adjudicator as he stood there, unable to move. "You really want to know that badly? Think about it for a moment, Irannius. What would a man such as myself require of a young girl who not only has an intelligent mind and an ancient bloodline coursing through her veins, but also wields powerful magic as well?" He inquired the boy before him, watching him look between him and the girl then back again. The Tactician glanced at the librarian for a moment as he could see the knowing frustration on her face as she looked away. "I can't believe this…" The Zaunite muttered as he slowly released the librarian's arms. "That's what you're aiming for? A family?!"

The realization took hold inside Irannius as Swain continued to laugh at him. "Of course, if you wished to stop that, perhaps you should go through with your earlier threats and kill the girl." The champion was egging him on to kill the librarian in cold blood. It would be simple given the circumstances, but, deep down, he didn't want to hurt her further than what he's already caused. The girl in question already stepped away from Irannius and was knelling down to rest her now sore legs. Did Swain really not care if she died or did he already know Irannius wouldn't do it? "You have a chance to stop me and you chose to give up? How obvious." The person he really wanted to see suffer was openly mocking him and would be protected in some way by the Institute.

Mikki watched in horror as the scene played out between Irannius and Swain. The insanity in Irannius's eyes was now gone and replaced by sorrow as he realized what he wanted to do couldn't be done. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, yet there was more to come from this. The Adjudicator ended the suspension spell on Swain and fell to his knees, looking hopeless and defeated. "Irannius…" The librarian wanted to reach out to him, but what little energy she had was all used up just walking to the spot she sat at. Looking back in the other direction, she watched as Swain dusted himself off from the spell and heard Beatrice caw angrily in the summoner's direction. _'Not good.'_

"What happened to that Zaunite pride you had not too long ago?" Swain questioned as he took a single step forward towards the groveling form of his once prime summoner. "Giving up so easily. You really should have thought of all the possibilities before confronting me, but I must commend you for getting this far." Another step forward and a single tap of his cane brought him closer as he looked down on Irannius. "Not many have lived to irritate me as long as you have and still draw breath." His voice was becoming harsh as a cruel smile graced his face under the mask. "I think it's time to end this little game of ours." With a single motion, the Adjudicator was snared in multiple talons that sprouted from the ground below him, holding Irannius in place as the Tactician pointed his cane at him.

"Swain, don't!" Mikki cried as she tried to stand, but stumbled forward as she heard the spell go off and watched as a shining greenish purple orb flew towards Irannius. A scream was heard, but it wasn't the Adjudicator's. Looking back up at the scene from where she fell, she spotted a man standing in front of the defeated summoner wearing plain purple summoning robes. He was gasping as he glared at the Tactician with green eyes. "You…will not hurt my friend." He growled through his teeth as Irannius looked up at the familiar form before him. "Skorne…?"

Swain was taken aback from the man's sudden appearance but then realized who it was that stood in his way and sneered. "Here I thought you died at the battle of Kalamanda." He hissed at the summoner, watching him straighten out his robes from the spell's impact. "That's my secret to keep, Swain." He retorted as he glanced back at his friend. "I'm sorry for hiding from you, Irannius." He said quietly as Irannius was on the verge of tears at the sight of his dear friend. "Is this some sort of…illusion?" The Adjudicator was at a loss for words as the snare spell disappeared.

Mikki, too, was at a loss for words as she watched the two summoners speak with each other. A quick glance at Swain revealed him about to cast another spell at the two of them. "Look out!" She yelled at them as they looked at her then realized what she meant and dodged the second snare spell that Swain casted. Relief ran through her tired form, but not before Swain set his sights on her in anger. "How is it that you still care about that weakling Adjudicator after all he has done to you?" He snarled at the librarian as she sat there, scared and afraid of what he might do. "You'd rather help this child over a man who's been in your life for over ten years?" He took a step towards her, aiming to get her to see his point of view. "I will give you one last chance, forget them and stay by my side."

She skid back across the ground as her eyes kept glancing between the man before her and the two summoners off to the side. The Tactician noticed this and turned his sights back on the boys. "Perhaps I should be rid of these pitiful distractions…" He said as his form warped and changed violently, turning into his grotesque demon raven form. The sight alone made Mikki pale further as she gazed at the feathered form in fear. Swain uttered a horrific guttural roar and began to cast another spell at Irannius and Skorne. But, before he could get the spell off, a robed figure teleported in behind him and put him into suspension. "That's enough, Jericho Swain." Said the person behind the champion. It was another Adjudicator leading a small group of fellow summoners as they surrounded Swain's stunned form. The leader turned to Skorne and Irannius and nodded. "Thank you for the tip, summoner." She said as she motioned for the others to teleport them back to the Institute with Swain.

It was over, the conflict has passed as Mikki moved to sit upright as she looked to the friends. They looked back at her, Irannius looked hurt and very sorry as he looked away from her. As for his friend, Skorne nodded to her and moved to stand in front of her. "I knew you tried to discourage him from doing this, but understand he just wanted to get back at Swain." He told her as she looked up at him with tired eyes. "I'm just glad no one died tonight." She whispered back as he chuckled and knelt down in front of her, offering his back to her. "I'll carry you back. Irannius can walk." He said calmly as she slowly pulled herself onto his back and felt him lift her up effortlessly.

Together, they headed back towards the library and walked in through the back entrance that lead into the kitchen area. Mikki slid off Skorne's back and thank him for the lift as she hobbled to a near by chair and sat down, exhausted and on the verge of passing out right there. "Mikki…" Irannius began to say as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to the librarian, his friend taking her other side. "It's fine." She quickly muttered at him as she glanced at him. "No, it's not fine. Because of me, you've been abused and scarred by him." He said, motioning to the gouges on her face as she glanced away from him. "It's the past now, Irannius. Just leave it alone." She leaned forward onto the table and set her face into both of her hands, obviously very tired from the night's events.

"It's getting late and you need to sleep, Miss Librarian." Skorne said as she nodded lightly at the suggestion. "But what about you two? Where will you go?" She inquired gently as they both rubbed the back of their heads. The guys looked around her at each other then back at the librarian. "Perhaps we could stay here for the rest of the night?" The question pulled a confused look from Mikki as she glance at each of them a couple times. "I…I suppose." It really was late in the evening when they returned around roughly one in the morning and all energy to argue or refuse was gone. With another nod of her head, she leaned forward and set her head into her arm on the table and drifted off to sleep.

"W-wait, Mikki!" Irannius muttered as he watched the librarian fall asleep and sighed when she didn't respond. He looked to Skorne, who just shrugged and got up from his seat. "I'll carry her to her room upstairs, you find a couch and get some rest as well." He told the Adjudicator as he gently put his shoulder under her arm and lifted her up till she was positioned onto his back again. "We'll talk more in the morning." He added as he left the kitchen and Irannius alone. After a moment of silence, he too got up and slowly made his way to the dark lounge room and flopped back onto one of the couches.

"Tomorrow… I'll explain everything to her."


	33. Chapter 30: Answers

Chapter 30: Answers

It would have been an understatement if the whole morning was just considered awkward. No, it was much worse. With all the doors left unlocked, the library's employees got worried and scoured the library till they found Irannius and Skorne sleeping out in the main lounge and Mikki up in her apartment room. "Think we should wake them?" Saline whispered to Rosaley, who found the two boys in the lounge room while Jean went to check upstairs for anyone else. They both eyed the torn clothes on the Adjudicator and the dusty look on the summoner and shook their heads. "Nah, we'll ask when they wake up. Let see if Jean has found anyone else lying about, shall we?" She whispered back as they lightly stepped away and up the stairs.

Mean while, Jean found the head librarian in her apartment, completely oblivious to his presence as he tried waking her up, but to no avail. "Guess I should let Rose and Sal know she's alive at least." He muttered as he stepped out of the apartment and nearly got ran over by Rosaley. "Easy there, Bilge girl." The fiery red head looked up at the sandy haired Zaunite and huffed at him. "I'm guessing she's not here?" He smirked, happy to at least prove her wrong this round. "Nope, she's here, just sleeping." While there were no traces of conflict around the library, something must of happened last night to make her forget to lock up for the night.

"Well, there are two guys down stairs in the lounge area, also sleeping." Saline pointed out gently as the small crew thought for a moment. "They looked a bit roughed up, though." She added quietly as they walked back down to the main floor of the library. Even with their whispered chatter, one of the boys in the lounge room stirred awake at the slight noise of feet shuffling over the wooden floor.

Irannius cracked an eye open as he stared at the ceiling of the lounge room, slowly remember where he was and why he was still here. The employees' voices trailed through the air as he heard them walking further away from where he and Skorne were. _'Must be near opening time.'_ With a groan he sat up on the couch and looked around the dimly lit reading area and spotted his friend resting on a near by couch._ 'So it wasn't an illusion.'_ A small smile crept onto his face before looked down at his own tattered form. His robes were torn from the talons that gripped him last night, leaving behind now healed over cuts on his skin.

He was alive. His best friend was also alive. No one died and Swain was now in League custody. He looked up in the general direction of the librarian's apartment and sighed. _'She must still be asleep and still very weak.'_ A quick mental glance showed that the pacifism spell was still there, but it was flickering faintly, leaving gaps in the spell. With a stretch, he stood up and started walking to the kitchen area._ 'Better get something to drink before I speak with her.'_

Irannius stopped just short of the entryway, listening to the voices inside. "Could one of you grab me a mug from the top shelf?" Saline asked the others as he watched the male summoner pull down the acrylic mug and handed it to her. The blonde beamed happily as she now poured fresh brewed hot chocolate into it. Rosaley, he saw, was making up eggs, sunny side up by the looks of it._ 'They act as though nothing is wrong.'_ The Adjudicator thought and sighed heavily, which drew the attention of the oldest of the employees. "Hey, welcome to the realm of the awake." Jean said nonchalantly as he poured coffee into a mug of his own.

The girls greeted him the same fashion as he stood there, memorized that they didn't seem to hate him in the least. "Come now, join us for a bit of breakfast." Rosaley said as he shook his head. "I can't. I just came here to grab a drink before I go speak with your employer." This seemed to dishearten the red head a bit as Saline grabbed a couple of glasses and filled them up with cold water and handed both to him. "One for you, the other for Mikki." She told him softly before smiling a bit. "I'll get one to your friend as well." The girl added as the Adjudicator nodded and gently took the glasses from her. "Thank you."

With that he slowly made his way back to the front where the stairs where, sipping at one of the glasses of water._ 'Guess she never told them anything.'_ He concluded as he rounded the corner and found Skorne awake and standing by the base of the spiral stair case. He was staring at Irannius with his green eyes before smiling lightly to his friend. "Going to try and make amends with..." The summoner asked as Irannius nodded lightly. "I'm going to try and explain, though I don't expect her to forgive me for what I've done as a result of my selfishness." A moment of silence hung in the air before Skorne moved to walk past the Adjudicator. "She's more understanding than you give her credit for, man." He placed a hand on Irannius's shoulder. "I'll be in the kitchen while you two talk and come up later." His hand was gone from his shoulder as he heard the footsteps slowly fade away as his friend walked to the west wing.

The path seemed longer than normal as Irannius made his way up to the apartment and knocked on the door before him. There was no reply to his announcement and moved to push open the unlocked door and stepped inside. Even though he got a good look around last night, the room seemed much different during the daylight hours. The light shown through the window illuminated everything, from the writing desk to her bed where he found the librarian sleeping. She was facing the wall, putting her back to everything and curled up tightly underneath her blanket. _'I did this to her.'_ No, it wasn't just him. Swain was to blame as well. But, unlike the Grand General, he will try to make it up to her in earnest and not for anymore selfish purposes.

Her head throbbed heavily from the lack of being hydrated as she tried to drift back to sleep, but with the noise Irannius was making, even though he was being as quiet as he could, she couldn't. Mikki shifted under the covers slightly, alerting the Adjudicator of her awareness of his presence. "Mikki…" He started to say as he watched the librarian's movement under the covers. "Listen. I know it's not the best time, but I need to explain everything to you." He murmured softly as he set the glasses of water onto the desk and pulled up the chair next to the bed to sit down. Another shift from under the blankets told him she was listening, but just not willing to look at him at the moment.

A moment passed before he sat down in the chair, facing her 'sleeping' form. "I thought he destroyed everything I cared for. My hopes, expectations, friendships…" He lingered a bit on the last word before shaking his head to re-clear his mind. He heard a small sniffle from the librarian. "He lead me to believe I'd become a great hero for Noxus, but all he was really doing was using me as a pawn." The librarian finally turned her head to face him, or at least glanced at him from the corner of her right eye as she still laid on her left side. She looked sad to him, worried even. "You must be thirsty. Saline gave me a glass of water to give you." Irannius told her as he motioned to the glass on the writing desk.

With a heavy sigh, Mikki rolled back over to sit up as she pushed the blanket off her and slowly adjusted herself till she was sitting on the edge of the bed. "But, last night…" She started to say before she was cut off. "Last night, my best friend came back to save me from my own mess." He interjected as she looked at him with weary eyes. "The summoner from last night?" Irannius nodded and grabbed the untouched glass and gently offered it to her. "Yes, Skorne, my best friend who I thought died at the battle of Kalamanda." The librarian looked shocked at the news as she slowly reached out to take the glass and sipped at it slowly. "I didn't know."

"Of course not. I withdrew after my other friends found out it was my fault he died and never saw fit to tell anyone else of this." He told her as he glanced off to the side a bit. "I was betrayed by the man you seemed so close to. Tell me, will you still stay by his side after what transpired last night?" Her eyes grew wide as the blurry memories of last night flash through her mind and stared down at the glass she held. "I really don't know, Irannius." She said softly as her hands trembled lightly in her lap, making the water quiver inside the glass. "A part of me wants him to stay away from here and leave me in peace…." He nodded at the first part before she cleared her throat and continued. "But, there's still the part of me that needs him around." Irannius gave her a loud 'WHAT' before she raised a single hand up. "Listen, I know it seems strange to you, but Swain was very much like a good friend to me, then during recent years, a bit more than that."

Before Irannius could say anything to her statement, a knock sounded by the entrance. They both looked to see Skorne with a glass of water and a small box in his hands. "Am I interrupting anything?" He asked them as they both ended up staring at the parcel. It was the one Swain brought with him last night. "Um, it was sitting on one of the tables in the kitchen. Rosaley tried to open it, but it seems to be magically sealed." The summoner continued as he strolled inside and placed the box on the bed next to Mikki. "I'm guessing it's for you, judging how both of you are staring at it." Mikki nodded before grimacing at the box on her bed.

"What do you think it is?" Irannius inquired, causing the librarian to glance at him with a raised eye brow. "I'm not sure. Didn't get to find out last night nor did I want to know." In all honesty, she wanted Swain to leave and take the box with him last night. She slowly reached out to the box and gently pulled it towards her lap next to the hand that was still holding tight to the water glass. It was a dusty black color with small silver rune marks around the outer part of the lid that kept it from being opened by unwanted people. "I watched someone give that to him not too long ago. I want to know why he wanted to give it to you." Irannius muttered as he stared at the little box.

The librarian looked at the Adjudicator then the box again. "You were watching Swain still the past couple months and saw him receive this box? From who?" She was picking at the edge of the top of the box as she awaited his answer. "I'm not sure who it was, but he was paid for bringing this to him though." Irannius told her as he watched her finger the top of the box. "Can you open it?" Her finger stopped as she heard his question and looked back up at him and his friend. "I…I don't know." Did she really want to open this unknown parcel from Swain so eagerly?

Mikki gently slipped her finger to the edge of the box once more and tugged the corner up slowly. Seeing that it gave no resistance, she placed aside the glass from her other hand and gently pulled up the other corners of the box evenly to reveal the contents inside. The first thing she noticed was a white envelope addressed to her covering what looked like a black glove with the fingertips cut off each finger._ 'That writing…'_ She set aside the box top and gently picked up the envelope and took another look at the glove and saw that on the back of the hand was a silver plating with three intertwining runes in a triangular fashion engraved onto it. She heard murmurings from Irannius and Skorne, but ignored them as something inside her mind rang with the sight of the runes. _'Where…?'_

"Mikki? What is that glove?" Irannius said a little louder, seeing as she didn't answer or even notice he asked it the first time. This brought her out of the déjà vu she was experiencing and looked at him with widened eyes. "I…It was my mother's." She stammered as she glanced back down at the glove and the envelope. He watched as she fumbled a bit with the seal and pulled out a faded piece of paper from the white envelope and started to look it over, watching small tears form at the corners of her eyes. "What does it say?" Whatever was on that paper must have been either a really sad or good thing because her mouth thinned for a moment before smiling a bit and wiped away the forming tears.

"A last will of sorts." She whispered as she set the paper aside and gently touched a tip of her right hand's pointer finger to the cold silver surface of the plate and felt a small jolt that startled her. Withdrawing her hand from it, she saw it start to glow a faint white on the engraved runes, almost beckoning her to touch it again, but refrained from doing so. "What is it doing?" Skorne asked this time as he stepped a bit closer to peer down at the glove. Mikki shook her head, obviously not sure of what it was doing, but she could feel it's intent. It wanted her to put it on.

The glove looked a bit big for her hands, but she swallowed nervously before picking it up with her left hand and gently slipped the glove over her right. It was loose, but that soon changed as the magic changed from beckoning to shrinking around her hand, fitting itself to her hand size till it was like a second skin. Another jolt was sent through her body as the glove pulsed once again, making her blood boil with the power that was coursing through her weak body. The librarian groaned as she realized what it's purpose was and tried to pull it under control as the boys stepped up to her, trying to steady her as she shook with the energy. "What the hell is happening?" Irannius pressed onto her as she slowly stopped shaking and was left panting heavily.

"It…is a rune augmenting glove." She breathed out as she flexed her right hand experimentally and found she could feel though the glove as if it was her skin. "Guess Mother forgot to mention the surge of putting it on." Mikki muttered as Skorne and Irannius backed up a bit since she recovered and sighed with relief. Irannius spotted the box that fell during the shock and leaned down to pick it up and watched as a ring fell from between the cotton coverings that the glove sat on. He picked it up and looked it over: a white marble dove with a single wing showed on it._ 'A sigil ring.'_ He thought to himself as he turned it over in his fingers and saw the initials J.W. engraved on the back. "Irannius?" His attention snapped back to Mikki as she was watching him play with the ring before he set it into the box that was in his other hand and handed it to her. "It was in the box as well. Just a normal ring." He told her as she raised an eye brow at what he said.

The librarian now picked up the 'normal' ring and glanced it over herself and furrowed her eye brows at it. "It's too big to be one of my Mother's." She said as she looked at the same engraved initials. "J.W…" With a sigh, she set it back into the box on her bed and stood up. "The mystery will have to wait till we…"

"You, just you." Irannius interjected promptly as she looked at him curiously. "As much as I would love to find out who it belongs to or why you have it, it's not worth it anymore to me." This shocked Mikki as much as the glove did as she turned to face him, looking at his torn robes and slightly messed up hair from the night before. "Do what you will, but I'm going back to the Institute and stepping down as an Adjudicator so I can be with my best friend once more." He explained as a set of footsteps were heard walking towards them followed closely by a knock. "Room service!" Rosaley announced as she and the other two employees came in with trays of food, setting them on the writing desk and bed alike.

This was possibly one of the most awkward moments any of them have experienced so far as the employees looked between their employer, the Adjudicator and the summoner and were openly asking about what they were talking about. "Now, now, you guys. This isn't something any of you should be hearing about." Mikki tried to tell them as Rosaley spotted the glove on her hand and made a grab at it and looked at it as it acted like it did in the box before she touched it. "Was this the thing in the box? It's a bit plain to be honest, boss." The librarian furrowed her eye brows once more in frustration as Rose lifted and turned her hand around to look at it from all angles.

"You never told them about the whole mess?" Irannius asked as they watched Jean pull Rose's ear to get her off Mikki's gloved hand. "It's not something they should be dragged into, you of all people should know that." She muttered as Jean and Rose were now bickering again as Saline tried to moved them out of the room and gave the group an apologetic smile and closed the door behind her. He nodded and sighed heavily as they looked to the freshly made breakfast that was set out for them. "I won't stay here and this will probably be the last time we see each other." Mikki looked away from the food and up to Irannius's face and saw how serious he was being about his choice. "You can still visit here…"

"No." He quickly said as he looked at her. "I'd rather we both not see each other and just move on. I can't stop you from being with him and my need to see him destroyed is gone." Skorne nodded and placed a hand on his friends shoulder and looked at her as well. "He is right. After last night, Swain will not be please to see us anywhere near you or Noxus for a long time." Mikki wanted to protest the subject, but withdrew any words she wanted to say as her stomach growled loudly as the scent of all the food started to get to her. The boys chuckled a bit at the noise and gestured to the food. "I think you should eat something and get back to managing your library as you use to." Irannius said and looked to his friend with a knowing gaze as they both nodded and looked back to the librarian. "Good bye, Mikki." Was the last thing he said before he teleported both him and Skorne from the apartment to who knows where, leaving Mikki standing alone in her room.

* * *

-Later that day-

Only a small fraction of breakfast was eaten while the rest was set out for the early morning patrons to pick at. Mikki cleaned herself up, scrubbing the dirt and sweat from her skin and putting on a clean robe made her feel a bit better, but not much. The sudden leave of the Adjudicator and his friend left her a bit cold on the inside as she tried her hardest to take command of her library from her employees. The glove was stuck to her and wouldn't come off, despite all the pulling and tugging she tried to do. _'At least it covers the stitches.'_ She thought as she placed books back onto the shelves like normal.

A loud caw sounded through the halls of the library, startling most of the near by patrons as she mentally panicked at the noise._ 'It can't be.'_ She moved though the lanes of shelves and found the six eyed raven sitting on the fireplace mantle in the main room, cawing angrily at the patrons that were trying to get close to her. Beatrice seemed to have spotted Mikki as she spread her wings and took off and glided over to her and landed painfully onto her left shoulder, clawing through the fabric of her robe at the scars beneath. "What are you doing here without your master, huh?" She muttered at the bird through her teeth as the raven poked her face with a talon, which had a scroll attached to it.

She reached for the scroll and undid it from her leg as she let out a caw of relief and continued to claw at her shoulder. Mikki unrolled the piece of paper and looked it over and sighed at what was written.

_"To Mikki Halsnight,_

_As you are fully aware, I've been 'summoned' to the Institute of War_

_and will be kept here for the next couple of days for observation._

_I would request that in a couple of days you arrive here at noon_

_to personally escort me back to Noxus once business is finished here._

_Sincerely, Jericho Swain"_

The librarian blinked a couple times before looking up at the raven on her shoulder. "He had you fly all the way to deliver this to me?" She questioned the bird as it cawed in annoyance and pecked at the side of her head. "I'm assuming you're hungry so I'll get you something then let you return to your master." Beatrice happily shrilled and flew off ahead of her towards the kitchen, leaving her to follow slowly behind. "How does he put up with that bird?" She muttered as she finally caught up to the raven and pulled out a raw steak and put it on a plate for her.

Mikki watched as the raven devoured the steak within minutes leaving very little scraps left on the plate. "Full?" She asked as the raven nodded and hopped back onto her shoulder, no longer clawing at her scars. "Alright, I'll escort you outside and I'm sure you can fly back and pester Swain for your reward." The librarian mused as she walked through the halls of the library, receiving curious looks from many of the patrons who were wondering why Swain's companion was with Mikki._ 'I wonder if this is how he feels when she's sitting on his shoulder like this?'_ The thought amused her a bit as she walked out the front door and looked to the raven, seeing her yawn and ruffle her wings lightly. "Time to go."

With a gentle nudge to the raven, Beatrice just cawed and kept herself nestled on Mikki's shoulder. "Oh come on." The demon raven's beak poked the side of the librarian's head and went back to falling asleep on her shoulder._ 'Don't tell me…'_ With a resigned sigh, Mikki walked back into the library and went back to doing her normal routine, only with Swain's raven on her shoulder. _'This is gonna be a very long couple days if I'm taking care of his bird.'_

* * *

**_A/N: I'm not dead, I was just taking a bit of a break from writing for a while. For those that pateintly waited for this update, I thank you so very much and for those that are just now getting into the story, I hoped you enjoyed all the fun. Once again, I thank Dargonax for letting me help conclued Irannius's story within my own. For those who want to know how Irannius started out, I suggest you go check out The Black Rose Letters done by Dargonax._**


	34. Chapter 31: Responsibility

Chapter 31: Responsibility

_'We're so going to have a very long talk about this…'_ Mikki thought bitterly as cleaned up her apartment of raven feathers and dropping, while the bird in question cawed in laughter as she sat on the bed post. It was morning of the day she was to pick up Swain from the Institute and she was already feeling annoyed about the whole thing. With a slightly clearer mind, the librarian slowly recovered from her depressed mood that she held onto the past couple months and even started eating a bit more to regain her energy to how it use to be. With the floor cleaned once more, she took a quick bath and got dressed into clean robes and fished out an dark green travel cloak. A quick glance at the glove on her hand made her sigh a bit as she found she couldn't remove it at all, but found it was water proof at least and pocketed the ring that was also inside the box her glove was in.

Beatrice cawed and flew onto Mikki's left shoulder once more after the cloak was put on. The last couple days has always been a bit routine with this, seeing as how the raven enjoys irritating the librarian with her occasional squawks while the girl was working. "Breakfast time, then." Mikki muttered as she stepped out of her apartment and watched the small groups of students and summoners shuffle around the many shelves of the library as she briskly walked to the west wing kitchen. It was crowded with the usual sleepy patrons looking for their coffee or hot chocolate fix as the librarian slowly made her way to the counter to pour herself a mug as well. "Today's the day, isn't it?" Asked Jean as he, too, made his way to the counter for a mug full of coffee, glancing curiously at his recovering employer.

Mikki nodded a bit as she slowly moved to the fridge and pulled a small ham steak for Beatrice. "Yes. I've already told you and the girls I'll be out today, so I expect all chores to be done before you lock up for tonight." She was preparing to be in Swain's presence all day and night away from the library and was taking no chances this time around. The Zaunite chuckled as he sipped at his coffee. "Of course. I'll go ahead and just remind Saline and Rosaley after you leave." He said and watched as the raven picked at the meat that was given to her. "If anything else comes up, I'll send word." With a quick nod, he agreed and followed her out to the front of the library, watching her wave good bye to Rose and Saline before stepping outside and preparing a very familiar purple rune underneath her and Beatrice. "Be safe, Mikki." Jean said as he watched her disappear from sight.

* * *

The Institute looked as imposing as ever as she looked up the building before her. Though the librarian had visited this place a couple times before, each time had a different reason for her arrival. With a deep inhale, Mikki soon strolled up the steps and into the Institute and felt her left shoulder become lighter as Beatrice started flying ahead of her to the point of leaving her in the dust. _'She must miss Swain.'_ She mused to herself as she continued to hold her casual pace through the halls till she reached the familiar garden area that sat in the middle of the place. Same as last time, the area was filled with summoners just relaxing and chatting with one another and even the sight of a couple champions caught her attention as she watched them speak with their fans and admirers. A small smile graced her face for a moment as she basked in the calm of the place before moving on to where the champions would be if they did something the League wouldn't allow.

Her footsteps echoed as she bobbed and weaved through the purple robed summoners till she reached the area most would avoid at all cost in fear of getting in trouble with the higher ups. All the energy she was feeling from the large crowd of people soon gave way to the dampening feeling of dread and anger as she slowed down her decent to the holding rooms below. Mikki quickly turned another corner and abruptly collided with someone much taller than herself and fell backwards to the stone ground. She groaned for a moment before speaking. "I'm so sorry about…." Looking up, the librarian saw Prince Jarven standing before her, looking slightly confused at her presence here in the Institute. "About that…" She managed to finish as she scrabbled to stand upright and brushed herself off from the musty stains she gained from the floor.

A spear was quickly pointed to her throat when she looked back up again. Her eyes traveled up the long pole to find a soldier with ornate looking armor wielding the spear at her. "What's a Noxian girl doing down here?" He questioned her and was about to take a step forward, but was stopped by the Prince. "That's enough Xin, she's no threat to us." He told the man as he pulled back his weapon, but still glared at the librarian. With Xin Zhao pacified for the time being, Jarven turned to face her himself. "Though, I must ask what you are doing here, librarian?" He asked her a bit more gently than his companion.

Mikki took a deep breath and sighed in relief as she stared up at the Demacian Prince. "I'm just here to pick up a certain someone from here." She told him slowly as she straightened her cloak and pulled it tighter around herself. He narrowed his eyes at her before looking a bit behind him. "You're here for Swain, aren't you?" This pulled a slight gasp of disbelief from the girl as lowered her shoulders in response and nodded. "Yes. I won't deny it." She murmured quietly and sighed. Jarven huffed at her as he stepped up to her. "I'm surprised you'd still listen to him after what he's done to you already." He was pointing at the scars that lined the left side of her face. She frowned a bit and looked off to the side in embarrassment. "It's…difficult to explain why." She managed to say after a moment of silence before turning her eyes back to him.

"I would assume so since you're here now." It was quite clear Jarven didn't approve of her reason for being down in the dungeon area of this place. He gave the girl a glance over and tilted his head a bit. "Though, I must admit, you look better than the last time we spoke." A complement that both made her glance away again and Xin confused at what he was saying. "Prince, you mean to say you've spoken to this Noxian before?" The fact that he didn't know her name in the first place held back the need to tell him to stop calling her by her nationality. "As unlikely as it is, this girl isn't a complete Noxian." This pulled her attention back to the two men before her as she raised an eye brow at Jarven before speaking. "Ezreal told you about that?"

"He did or else I wouldn't of visited the other night." Jarven explained to her as she nodded her head. "Yes, that makes sense." This interaction was proving to be a bit confusing to Xin because not all the details were being said about the how and why. Mikki smiled a bit before something came up as she fished around in her pockets and pulled out the ring that she pocketed earlier and held it out to Jarven with her left hand. "I have a favor to ask of you, since we're on the subject of my Demacian heritage." This took both the Demanians for a loop as the Prince looked to the ring in her hand. "A sigil ring?" He muttered and watched the librarian nodded in conformation.

"I'm assuming it belongs to my father, since the initials inside the band don't match anyone else's that I know of. I was hoping you or someone one else with access to Demacian military archives could look up the name of who this ring belonged to and possibly return this to any living family members he might have left behind." The look on her face alone was stern even though her voice was soft and gentle. Jarven looked a bit shocked at the request as he stared at the ring that still sat in her open hand. "I…I'm surprised you want to return it." He stuttered a bit as he picked up the ring gently and looked it over, staring at the one wing dove that was engraved on it. "I don't deserve it and I'm sure he'd rather have his true family to be in possession of it over his bastard child with a Noxian woman." She said softly. The Prince and Xin Zhao both were speechless over her selflessness to return the sigil ring to it's rightful family.

"I'll see what I can find out for you and let you know when I can." Jarven soon told her after a minute passed in silence between the trio. A small smile appeared on the librarian's face at the news and bowed to him. "Thank you so much." The Prince tucked the white ring away as he placed a hand on the shoulder of the librarian. "You're doing a service that I would never expect and, for that, I'll see to getting you the news once I get the time to look." This made Mikki quite happy as she placed a hand on his, patting it gently. "Take your time, you're a busy man and I have another busy body that requires my services." She said to him lightly as they both said their good byes and parted ways down the hall.

Another couple of corners later, Mikki soon reached the room indicated in the letter Swain sent and found the door slightly ajar and voices were coming from inside. Cautiously, she stepped as quietly as she could to the edge of the door and started to listen in on the conversation inside. "You were being foolish! Attacking an Adjudicator and a summoner over what? A librarian?" A woman muttered loudly at the man in front of her. Mikki heard the familiar dark chuckle coming from Swain as she continued to stay out of sight of the pair inside the room. "She a bit more than just a librarian, Kolminye." Was all he said to the woman's rant as silence hung in the air. "It doesn't matter. You realize this could have been seen as an attack to the League itself, but here you are waiting for your escort to take you back to Noxus." It was quite clear she was upset with him, but her voice also hinted that she was worried about him as well.

"Of course, she should be here any moment now. It's almost noon." He mused to Kolminye as he started to pace around the room with Beatrice now back on his left shoulder. The High Councilor watch him with careful eyes. "She? Now is it LeBlanc that's going to see you arriving back in Noxus in a timely fashion?" The Tactician looked to the woman, grinning a bit underneath his mask. "No, I've called on someone who's much more efficient in transporting others around." This peaked the interest of the woman as Mikki stilled outside of the door, wondering if it was safe to interrupt their conversation at this point. "Isn't that right, Mikki?" Swain said a bit louder, causing the librarian to jump at the sudden questioned aimed right at her as she slowly reached out and pushed the door open, revealing herself to the two people inside.

"O-of course." Mikki replied as she faced both Swain and Kolminye in the room before her. The woman raised an eye brow at the girl that stood in the doorway before turning to Swain. "Jericho, isn't she the Noxian Librarian?" He nodded as he stepped up to the librarian motioning for her to move out of the room as he followed. "If you don't mind, I'll take my leave with the dear librarian now." Before the Councilor could protest the thought, Swain already strolled past Mikki and slowly headed for the exit to the dungeon area, leaving the librarian to follow in his wake, taking long strides to keep up with his pace. He stopped short of the exit and let the girl catch up to him, listening to her heavy breathing as she leaned forward a bit, placing her hands on her knees.

"Enjoyed listening in on that little conversation?" He asked her as she slowed her breathing down and looked up at him. "I didn't get to hear very much of it." Mikki told him honestly as she straightened up and looked out to the garden area before them. Swain held out his left arm, offering it like he did months before when he took her to the nightly social. The girl eyed him warily before slipping her gloved right hand into the crook of his elbow and walked beside him like an item to adorn the champion next to her. She noticed the summoners and some of the champions staring at them as they walked down the pathway to the front of the Institute, including Prince Jarven and Xin Zhao who looked very displeased with the sight they were seeing.

Mikki frowned at the thought as they continued to move into the next part of the structure to the front of the Institute and down the steps to the purple rune that was waiting for them to arrive. No words were spoken as they stepped onto the rune and quickly zipped off to the front of the library where Mikki started from. She slowly pulled her hand away from Swain as she looked up at him as he glanced around their surroundings. "We'll talk later tonight. For now, I want you continue to do what you normally do here till later. I have much to discuss with you." He murmured to her as he started for what she could only imagine was his estate as she stood there on the front steps of the library.

* * *

All throughout that afternoon, Mikki made sure everything was running smoothly before letting her employees get off early tonight, letting her take some time to herself before Swain shows up at the front door. She may have been given some warning to his arrival this time around, but the thought of being alone with him once more put her on edge as she placed the last of the returned books to the shelves. The librarian was eating a small pastry when a familiar knock sounded from the front door. With a heavy sigh, she moved through the halls back to the front and unlocked the door and opened it to see Swain in his usual outfit as opposed to the Grand General outfit he was wearing earlier. She stepped aside and let him inside, noting that Beatrice was not on his shoulder and figured that he wanted the raven to keep watch around the outside.

After Mikki locked up the front door once more, Swain turned to face the librarian with his narrowed red eyes that made her shudder lightly before looking off to the side. "I'm not going anywhere. Not this time." She murmured at him as she stepped away from the door and placed herself a good five feet from him. "That's good because we have quite a few things to discuss, such as the glove I gave you." He said calmly as he stared down at her right hand as she pulled it up to look at the silver plate on the back of her hand. "I know what this glove is, Swain. It was Mother's, but I didn't realize she took it off…" The girl told him as he nodded to her words. "That's right, it was once Arabeth's, now passed down to you as her only successor to the Halsnight name." His voice seemed a bit saddened when he mentioned her mother's name.

"So we got that sorted out then…" She started to say, but stopped abruptly as Swain glared at her. "No, we're not done with that subject. There's more to that glove that she didn't tell you about." He growled as he stepped up to her to grip the gloved hand to look at it closely. "This glove was the reason your mother fell ill." Mikki tried to pull out of Swain's grasp but stopped when he mentioned the unknown disease that claimed her mother's life. "What?" Was all she could muster as her arm fell lax in his grip. The Tactician slowly released her hand and watched it fall to the girl's side as his eyes softened as he gazed at her. "It's the curse of the binding that the glove holds. Having it on is fine, but when you are able to take it off after a couple decades, it'll slowly drain the life force of the former wearer till they die once it's removed." The information made the librarian pale and slump to the ground in horror.

"Sh-she told you this, didn't she?" Mikki stuttered softly as she looked up at him from the ground. He only nodded as she looked back down to the wooden floor beneath her, almost on the verge of tears. So she'll die shortly after removing the glove that gives her a concentrated power boast, but it won't happen till at least twenty years later. A hand was felt on her head as she realized Swain was stroking at the loose hair, smoothing the stray strands across her head while it was still bowed to him. "You still have quite a while before that times comes." He assured her quietly as she looked up and felt his hand moved to her face and touch at the scars just above the brow. "I-I know, but still…" Her words trailed off as she slowly pushed off the ground to stand upright again.

Swain's hand moved from the tip of her scars to her cheek as the thumb slowly stroked along one of the scars gently, making her blush lightly at the gesture. "There's still the matter from the other night before I was whisked away to the Institute." Mikki gave a bit of a breathy huff before frowning at him. "The ultimatum?" She vaguely remembered what he asked of her before the rest became a very blurry haze. "In the end, you did decide to stay by my side. You coming to escort me home was proof enough for that." This pulled another huff from the girl as she glanced towards his hand on her cheek, feeling him lightly claw just behind her ear with the middle finger. "You knew I couldn't betray you, but you asked to throw the boys off guard for just that moment." She mused darkly to him as he smirked under his bandana. "Not only that, but told them only a partial truth…" He knew what she was talking about as he gave her a deep chuckle. "You honestly think I would have told him the full truth?"

Mikki shook her head as she glanced into his eyes. "No, you never do." Her eyes narrowed slightly at him as another stroke of his thumb on her scars kept the red flush on her face. "But my intentions still stand with you." He murmured as reached with his left hand and placed it on her side, pulling her closer to him. The librarian made a small noise but he ignored it as he placed his chin just above her head as he wrapped his right hand behind her head. "I wasn't lying about wanting you." The statement made the girl shiver in his grasp as he felt her nose bump his neck lightly. "Only as a mistress to your children." She whispered back before nosing into his shoulder. "Perhaps so, but this arrangement works to both our favors." He countered back at her, listening to her sigh in defeat.

The hand that held her head to his shoulder moved away for a moment as she felt Swain tug down the bandana from his nose and mouth and soon moved the same hand under the librarian's chin to lift it up so that he could lean in to kiss her slightly parted lips. A small whine of protest hummed between them but she didn't pull away or stop him from deepening the kiss further as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, tasting the tangy sweetness from the pastry she was eating earlier. Her tongue weakly pushed against his as he assaulted her mouth, his hands pulling the rest of the girl against his body, holding tightly to her small frame.

Mikki's own hands reached up between them and gripped at Swain's robes tightly as she started to moan weakly into the kiss. Something inside of her craved this attention and now it was being satisfied as she closed her eyes in contentment. The change in body language made Swain chuckle once more as he gripped her waist and sat her on top of the Information and Checkout counter next to them. He broke the heated kiss as he looked at the librarian, watching her pant softly. She was staring back at him with narrowed eyes, but what they were telling him wasn't that she didn't enjoy it, but the fact he ended it annoyed her more. "Tell me something. Did you miss being treated like this?" He whispered into her ear and felt the grip she had on his robes tighten.

She didn't want to answer him as she placed her forehead onto his shoulder, still clutching to his clothes. Yes, she missed the affection he was showing her, but the reason behind the affection left her a bit disheartened. All those years he spent gaining her trust was so he could just claim her as his in the future. Now. "Swain…" She muttered through her teeth as she felt him nuzzle into the side of her neck slowly, feeling the warm breath on the sensitive skin. His hands were slowly making their way up her sides till they moved to the front of her robe and slowly undid the collar portion and pushed aside the fabric to expose the rest of her neck. The Tactician slowly planted light kisses down the neck till he nipped at the tender spot from last time, causing her to gasp loudly.

Swain pulled back once more to look at the librarian's face as it was now flushed a deep red and chuckled softly under his breath. "Shall we move to a more personal space?" He suggested to her as she glanced off to the side at the library around them before nodding slowly. Despite the fact no one else was around, the openness of the main room left her a bit discouraged over anything they were about to do to each other. The librarian slid off the counter and practically fell into the champion before her, clutching at his robes once more as he wrapped his arms around the girl possessively. Slowly turning around in his grasp, Mikki slowly lead him up the stairs to her apartment and closed that door behind them as well.

Gently, Swain nudged Mikki forward to the center of her room and gripped at the sides of her robe. "Raise your arms." He commanded her as she did as she was told and felt the robe being pulled over her head and tossed aside, leaving her in the black dress pants and thin cotton undershirt. The cold air made her shiver a bit as she watched the Tactician remove his own robe, eyeing once more at the scars that lined his lean body. "Didn't think it would still interest you, but if you want…" He stepped in front of her, watching her reach slowly to touch the old wounds on his body once more as he returned the gesture by stroking at the scars on her left shoulder. Now they shared a common feature.

A small pleasure, she realized, that he allowed of her as she leaned into him, still gently fingering the light colored scars on his sides as she rested her head against his chest. Mikki gasped a bit when a nail ran down on of her own scars, making her shudder and look up at him. Swain smirked at the reaction he received and gripped the thin fabric that still clung to her upper body and pulled it off as well, leaving her bare top side. With a slight shove, he managed to tilt the librarian onto the bed, watching her fall onto her back, leaving her legs dangling over the edge still as he leaned over her. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him with some of the fear from earlier as she laid defenseless under him. "Swain, please…"

With his right hand, he traced the scars down over her shoulder all the way to her collarbone, watching her squirm at the touch. "It won't hurt like last time." He told her as he kept caressing her shoulder lightly. A small groan sounded from the girl below as she reached to grip at his forearms, feeling the nails she had claw at his skin. She was warm to the touch as Swain leaned down to gently lick at the shoulder scars now. Small moans issued from the librarian's mouth as he tongued along the tender lines of the claw marks he made. "T-take it…easy." She manage to say to him as he reach her collar bone and nipped at the flesh on it, making her gasp loudly again.

His teeth were sharp and with each nibble he made on her skin made Mikki shudder in response to each one. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt his mouth reach her left breast and gently took it into his mouth, suckling gently. She reached to grasp at his head with her hands, only grasping at his hair with one as she tried to nudge him off her breast, but it only lead to him suckling harder and felt his left hand tweak her right nipple between his fingers. Her back arced up into him from the teasing he was doing and it made him grin into her skin.

Swain's free hand slid down between them and slowly undid the button on the girl's pants and slowly slid them off with her underwear, leaving her fully bare for him to see. Mikki breathed his name softly as he lowered to himself further, him mouth planting small kisses over her stomach. He soon was knelling at the edge of the bed in between her leg as she propped herself up to her elbows to watch him slowly lick at the folds of her entrance that were presented to him. _'Already slick.'_ The champion thoughtfully mused as he worked his tongue up her pussy, his hands gripping her legs to keep them from clenching around his head. The tip of his tongue flicked the girl's sensitive clit and felt her try to pull her legs together to force him away, but to no avail.

"Swain!" Mikki cried at him as she wanted to move her hands to push him away, but that would take away the support she had to stay upright as he continued to tease her clit with his mouth. Her breath was becoming heavy and her body shook from each suckle he made. His red eyes glanced up at her, gauging her reaction to the heavy teasing he was doing. "S-swain…I…" She felt like she was going to peak, but the Tactician pulled himself away at the last second as she dropped her arms out from behind her and laid there, panting heavily and shaking with the need for release. "Not yet…" He murmured as he rose from the floor and started undoing his own pants and moved them with the rest of his clothes as he adjusted himself back over the librarian once more.

With a bit more effort, Swain pulled up the girl's hips to align his hardened member with her slick entrance and slowly pushed against the tight hole, making her wince and moan as he pushed every inch into her. "Still just as tight as before." He murmured as he hilted himself and held it inside of her for a few moments to let her adjust to his size once more. Mikki looked up at him, small tears forming at the edges as she reached up to grasp at his upper arms with her small hands. With a practiced motion, the champion began to move his hips, thrusting slowly at first as he leaned down to kiss her roughly once more. Their teeth clashed as they each tried to nip at the other's lips, pulling moans from each other.

Swain picked up the pace as the nails on his arms started to dig into his skin, drawing a bit of blood. He could feel the walls of her pussy tighten even more around his cock as she neared her orgasm, which made it easier to slid deeper into her as he pushed up onto the bed to get a better angle. He groaned as he pounded into her, growling her name as he gave one last thrust and released his seed into her. Mikki moaned from the feeling of his warm cum being shot inside of her as she desperately clung to Swain's arms tightly, not noticing the thin line of blood she drew with her nails.

With a deep growl, the champion leaned in, wrapped his arms around the librarian and rolled them around till they were on their side. Mikki was also moaning softly as she buried her face into the side of his shoulder as she moved her arms to hold him tightly. No more words were spoken the rest of the night as they laid in bed, now covered with the girl's comforter as they stayed joined at the hips. She was shaking from the intercourse as the Tactician kept a tight hold on the small frame of the young woman who will mother his future children as they each slowly drifted off to a restful sleep.


End file.
